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"More than half of CPS schools are underutilized, according to district data for the 2020-2021 school year. The district is cash-strapped and lacks the wherewithal to keep half-empty or mostly empty buildings operating. And given the enrollment tailspin, expect the number of underused schools to grow. Things are only going to get worse."
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WIREPOINTS ORIGINAL STORIES
Audio and summary Illinois bill would override local law to allow homeless living in all public parks – Wirepoints
April 14, 2026
29 Comments
If this bill passes, say goodbye to local control over all Illinois parks and expect to see open drug and alcohol use, needles, no sanitation and fire hazards, but no ordinary park users.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago Fiscal Crisis Worse Than Pre-Bankruptcy Detroit, HIV Surge and Public Health Threat From Open Borders Goes Unreported
April 10, 2026
2 Comments
Summary and audio linked here.
Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer: Chicago pension buyout plan mostly shifts debt rather than eliminating it, property tax surge doubles inflation over three decades
April 3, 2026
9 Comments
Chicago’s political leadership is floating a pension buyout program as evidence it is seriously addressing the city’s thirty-six-billion-dollar unfunded pension liability, but Mark Glennon, founder of the Illinois policy research organization Wirepoints, said that the proposal moves debt from one column to another rather than reducing it, and that the broader fiscal picture facing the city continues to deteriorate across every measurable dimension. Audio here.
WBEZ and Chicago Sun-Times falsely blame Texas Gov. Abbott for 2020 to 2024 surge in Chicago Latino HIV, AIDS infections – Wirepoints Quickpoint
March 31, 2026
11 Comments
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
Doing nothing? CPS doing anything will make it worse. Convert schools to prisons run by the community. Take CPS out of the equation.
Doing nothing? No, CTU will ask for more money, more time off, more EQUITY, and more sympathy.
Here’s the problem, parents are leaving because CPS, for most of it’s customers, is about the teacher, not the customer (student). Parents see that and know that even Rahm (not my guy) got pounded when he tried to right CPS.
Let it burn. That is what the equity, freebie hunters want…
Oh, and I am going to move – hence I will cease my STUPID funding of their moronic system. Not to worry, Jabba will ask for Federal dollars to fix their stupidity.
Ctu & cps are praying that the universal pre-k provisions in bbb pass and they can fill up all those empty schools with toddlers & $six figure staff$. And put all the mom & pop daycare operators out of biz. Ctu and teachers unions nationally are lobbied hard. Just like obamacare, the feds would pay 100% initially and then states would pick up increasing share over the years….its all about Virginia at this point
CTU: Clearly we need to hire more teachers.
Convert closed, unwanted schools into SRO’s and affordable housing, then watch the NIMBYs come out.
Funny. I was thinking hydroponic pot farms & mini casinos?
Empty school buildings might become Charter schools . so we should never close an under utilized school. shoddy thinking