Wirepoints’ Mark Glennon on AM560’s Morning Answer
April 22, 2026
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Summary and audio linked here.
-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
The state’s formula for determining how to fund schools looks at a variety of factors, including the percentage of low-income students and wealth of the property surrounding schools. Chicago saw a 4% loss of low-income students and a 3% increase in the city’s property tax base, according to state data.
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Audio and summary Illinois bill would override local law to allow homeless living in all public parks – Wirepoints
April 14, 2026
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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
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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.
So Chicago’s ability to fund its schools – as measured by evidence-based funding formula – improves…a good thing we want ALL school districts to achieve…and now we’re gonna get a bunch of ignorant activists complaining about a loss of funding.
Chicago receives too much state funding as it is. It’s time we stop treating CPS like it’s West Harvey-Dixmoor School District.
CPS was always getting a too-high ratio of State funding due to an artificially low EAV created by inordinate TIF coverage. With TIFs due to expire (and reassessments would reflect true property values reflecting 23-35 years’ worth inflation), 2017 EBF law was rammed through. It guaranteed ‘base funding ‘ for CPS no matter how rich the taxable real estate or how low the schools sink. TIF has enormous impact on all Illinoisans’ property tax rates, by primary or secondary effect. If anyone in Illinois Government were serious about property tax reform, TIF would be eradicated and illegal use of TIF… Read more »
If my math is correct $1.75B could educate 250,000 students in private schools in Rockford at an approx cost of $7K each. That is at least 75% of total enrollment in Chicago schools. But the cost in Chicago is almost $29K per student. School taxes would be a small fraction on homeowners.
Every dollar spent in an under-utilized school is a dollar denied to a student in another school.