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Summary and audio linked here.
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.
Expect no retraction or apology. This what they do.
The state’s existing buyout program for its own pensions is the precedent for Chicago, which should be a warning: Look out for similar exaggerated claims and shoddy analysis.
Full interview and summary linked here.
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I don’t understand the problem of “teaching to the test”. That is a common objection to standardized tests. But wouldn’t the concepts on the test be part of the regular curriculum? Wouldn’t they be taught anyway? So why would it be a problem to “teach to the test?”
Totally agree. Eliminating testing is an effective way to hide the poor outcomes that are endemic to education in Chicago and Illinois.
Bingo
I wonder who our trolls are.
It doesn’t really matter whether you agree or not in the overall scheme of the problem. “You can’t a silk purse from a sow’s ear.” You’re expecting something remotely akin to academic excellence from a student population not at all prepared for schooling even beyond maybe primary level. Most likely have no real spiritual encouragement at home for a thought beyond the immediate day, few have no highly educated family members to inspire them and consequently hold school as you’d like to think of it as a very, very low priority in their concerns. All they really want is to… Read more »
I think we can all agree with your assessment of the status quo, at least in most Chicago schools. But it seems you are arguing that public education is pointless and futile. So why do we continue to dump massive amounts of money chasing what you say is an impossible goal? I wish we would see those in education admitting that progressive ideas have failed, and advocating a new direction. Instead they want to double down on failure, and then bemoan the results. Also, I asked a simple question- “why is teaching to the test a problem?” No response, only… Read more »