FOX32 Chicago highlighted Wirepoints’ Wednesday press conference in front of the Chicago Public Schools headquarters, where a coalition of concerned Chicagoans spoke out against the district’s 5% tax hike. Wirepoints’ Ted Dabrowski explained: “the problem is parents aren’t putting up with this. People are fleeing CPS. It’s too expensive, the teaching is not working, and in less than 20 years, it’s gone down 116,000 students.”
Read more from Wirepoints:
- Wirepoints’ Report Cards expanded to cover all 600 Chicago public schools. The grades are dismal.
- Chicago Public Schools doesn’t deserve another penny (Part 2)
- Poor student achievement and near-zero accountability: An indictment of Illinois’ public education system – Wirepoints Special Report
- No, Mr. Martinez, your excuses for Chicago Public Schools’ failure to educate children don’t hold up
- Chicago Public Schools fails its Hispanic students: Only 17 of every 100 read at grade level. – Wirepoints Special Report
- DeSantis’ claims on Chicago kid shootings: hyperbole or fact?
Audio and summary 
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.
Don’t be surprised if Illinois and especially Chicago being the socialist hellhole that it’s becoming, taxes will go up on certain groups and not on other groups. Communists have no concept of commercial businesses, property and entrepreneurship. They look at all those as leveling the playing field because they have more $$$ than us, so let’s just take it from them! These are radicals folks and your in for a big surprise if you own businesses, property, and are a high net worth individual. They will be coming for you first and yes you will lawyer up which is your… Read more »
They’re fleeing CPS because, outside of the selective enrollment and a few other schools, CPS, run by CTU, delivers a crap product. It’s that simple.
The unions game the system, the only way out of it is to get out and let them pay for their own stupidity. The normal family man is DOA when it comes to having any say in government.
Main reason is the taxpayers are NOT organized and has no large voting block. If taxpayers banded together as a union or some type of legal organization the pols would listen. Power in numbers. We are each on our own. Try not to pay you property taxes and see what happens but if 20,000 in one area did not pay or withheld payment they would listen.
Looks like downvoter will not allow taxpayers to organize. Unions are for public employees not the taxpayer.
A little to late for taxpayers to protest and scream or band together. The result of a one party system and one party state which exists to keep itself in power in perpetuity. One true power we all have is LEAVING ILLINOIS and protesting with our feet.
The Supreme Court just put another nail in the coffin of Chicago Public Schools. The school system is not educating African American students and the Supreme Court decided they can’t be accepted to colleges based only on their race. BOOM! What happens now? Unless they somehow find a way around this ruling, the whole nation is going to know just how bad a Chicago education is.
Mayor Johnson will put them on the public payroll to loaf with all the rest.
Good one!
How Supreme Court ruling will affect CPS very convoluted HS selective enrollment process will be something to watch. Although years ago for my kids, the competition to get into a Payton, Northside, Jones, etc is worse than trying to get into Harvard and the epicenter of lib hypocrisy on full display I assure you.
Great decision! Affirmative action has always been racial discrimination.
How condescending to blacks, as if they can’t succeed without preferential treatment!
What often happened was that unqualified students were accepted into high ranking schools and curriculum, then they dropped out because they weren’t able to handle the coursework. How unfair to students – both the ones passed over because of their race, and the ones, though unqualified, accepted because of their race.
We need the best and brightest, regardless of race.
Spot on Pat. I often wondered why the pro AA folks never clamor for an AA pilot when flying or an AA surgeon when they need an operation.
Marie, I think it’s to the contrary. Colleges will easily get around the new ruling simply by further downplaying objective measures like test scores and grades. They will ask, for example, for essays like: “Describe any personal experience you’ve had dealing with injustice,” or “What obstacles have you faced in life that you’ve had to overcome.”
Admission officers have already stated as much. The new essay “How I overcame systemic racisms” will become quite popular. The student can then go over to ChatGPT (example below) and have it write the appropriate essay to prove the correct credentials. Similar to a wink and nod if done in person. Embracing Resilience: Triumphing Over Systemic Racism in Pursuit of Education Introduction: In a society marred by the deep-rooted legacy of white supremacy, I, a black high school student with an unwavering determination, have navigated a challenging path towards education and personal growth. Throughout my journey, I have encountered the… Read more »
Yup. The real consequence will be further attack on the entire concept of merit.
With CTU running CPS they’re basically for ZERO testing/ZERO accountability….so that solves the merit problem until those kids have to face realities of real world competition. (Or maybe not, and they just get gaurenteeted gigs with city, cc or state on the taxpayers dime? And debts for dummies as usual)
Also, don’t forget it’s are own equity hustler & chef–CTU/Brandon who has stated (merit) standardized testing is based in histories of systemic racist “eugenics”
Kendi says the same. He once wrote that he didn’t understand why he scored low on standardized tests until he realized that it was the test that racist, and it couldn’t be his low intellect.
But, I’ll give him credit for making it rich off a concept now called Kendi-ism. He wrote books about it and makes a lot of money. He’s a great pulp fiction author.
At what point do they diminish their own status as elite schools by doing so? Maybe they will be able to pull off a Bud Light and destroy their own brand. It will be interesting to see what happens.
The elite schools have already diminished their brand quite a bit. Yale is a joke of a school named after a slave trader. And northwestern is openly mocked for their students that act like petulant children. Meanwhile, many, but not all, of the academically superior students who’ve been rejected by these schools are still going to colleges – but they are headed to Red States that don’t have quite the same absurd level of racist admissions. I was told the other day my suburban town apparently has quite the pipeline of high school students headed to SEC school, and of… Read more »
Lazy teachers, lazy administrators, lazy students and lazy voters…what could go wrong?
Voters aren’t lazy. They’ve examined the situation and have determined that voting won’t make a difference because dishonest news sources have taken them for a ride. I’m doing my best to expose the tricks. It’s a fascinating science.
I totally disagree. I know numerous Illinois individuals qualified to vote but have no idea when election day is. They don’t care. They are too busy doing whatever they do totally ignoring the political situation. Pure laziness to get informed on the issues and vote. They do complain on tax day but vote? …lolol
Behavior can be reasonably predicted and modified now, thanks to the interactive nature of the internet and infinite sources of data. I can explain how to do it with ample professional citations, but it will take me a few long posts. Your lazy assessment doesn’t hold water when Twitter can summons a menacing mob of thousands with a couple lines of code. If you still disagree, just remember that we’re in an interactive environment. Your pessimism and negative sentiment can sway voters and activist participation. You’re adversely affecting your objectives with your negativity and defeatism. Opposition has seized on this… Read more »
Dave, I suggest you write such an article and clearly lay out your point because I, for one, just don’t get where you are coming from with comments like this. You seem to think nobody should talk about problems, as Riverbender did. That’s crazy. You rarely give specific suggestions for what you would do, except you said somebody should make a good film for schools to use refuting the left’s radicalism. That would take lots of money and time, wasted, because schools would never show it.
Thanks for the response, Mark. My point is that we’re not going to get anywhere with bad attitudes. It’s a social duty to call out bad attitudes for an infinite number of reasons! I don’t understand where you’re coming from if you can’t even recognize a problem. Asking how we can get more people involved vs. perpetuating a myth that people are too stupid to vote makes a huge difference in group discussion and probable outcomes. The first logical step to improving my situation, which I’m doing here, is identifying what I see as a problem and commenting on it.… Read more »
If you want to write a column you don’t need us. Put it up on Substack or wherever and if it is any good we will link to it as we do with others. We can’t publish ghost-written columns as our originals, or even signed ones except on very rare circumstances, which should be for obvious reasons.
If you were around in Thomas Paine’s day apparently you’d be saying he has a bad attitude and is taking the wrong approach. His papers were forever haranging the neutrals sitting on the sidelines, and bitching about poor funding while they starved at Valley Forge.
BLM BJ and CTU doesn’t care if people leave CPS. They’re not going to fire any teachers or close schools. The CTU isn’t about teaching kids. They’re about maximizing their pay and pensions. The kids are just a vehicle for that.
They’re going to run out of money eventually. They’re in for some tough decisions. Have some optimism.
This is so cool. A press conference in front of CPS headquarters. Way to go wirepoints! If I still lived in Chicago, I would have been there to cheer you on. Sincerely, Penny
Look at the actual numbers:
Chicago median household income=$66k
Chicago median home value=$278k
Cook County median property tax rate=2%
Cook County median property tax burden per household (assuming 5% exemptions on $278k assessment) = $5282
PERCENTAGE OF COOK COUNTY HOUSEHOLD INCOME BURDEN FOR PROPERTY TAXES= 8%
PERCENTAGE OF AMERICAN (Midwest) HOUSEHOLD INCOME BURDEN FOR PROPERTY TAXES= 4%
https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/chicagocityillinois
https://smartasset.com/taxes/illinois-property-tax-calculator#E622pWI6Pj
https://www.bls.gov/cex/tables/calendar-year/mean-item-share-average-standard-error/cu-region-1-year-average-2021.pdf
The schools, the politics and the policing all conspire to chase those of us who can, to leave. One need only visit a list of restaurants that have been shuttered these last two years to take a measure of the climate here in Chicago. Given the demographics and the preponderance of baby boomers who remain in the Chicago area, the future looks grim. The Sun Belt beckons, now more so than ever !
They’ll screw up the south too if nobody fights back. We’ve got a lot of resources on our side just waiting for a plan and instructions.
This is what the CTU wants, we are playing into their hands. Nothing but extortionists.
The best thing for a student’s education is to get out of the CPS. Anywhere is better than the Chitty.
Isn’t fleeing CPS a good thing? If zero students were enrolled, the taxpayers and voters might finally question the need for public unions/schools. I’ve said it before. The heroes of Illinois are the ones that no longer live in Illinois. They packed up and said, “I’m not taking this crap anymore.” To stay and argue/fight with the brain-dead socialists, delusional woke racists, and corrupt city/state officials is pointless. There are simply too many of them in that state. Those that leave push the state closer to insolvency, which is someplace it needs to go before anything will start to get… Read more »
100% right. Get out. This idea of staying to fight for change is total BS. These progressives won’t allow it. The only change we ever got was electing Rainer. What did that get? He got ridiculed from office.
Rauner. Spell check keeps changing it.
Imagine how much better IL finances would be, and a lessoned tax burden on taxpayers, if the corrupt supreme court had allowed Gov Rauner’s incredibly modest reform. You are 100% correct – the progressives will cut their noses off before doing anything for the greater good of IL. Very sad situation.
Imagine if the legislature would have paid their bills and funded the pension plans properly instead of purposely underfunding them in the hopes that they could steal from retirees later. The state has known for over 50 years that pension benefits couldn’t be reduced as they had no such authority to do so. The IL Supreme Court had no other choice if they wanted to follow the constitution. That’s usually a problem for the left but this site has shown me that even right leaning folks only quote the constitution when it suits them. General Assembly has repeatedly attempted to… Read more »
Wondering which of the 785 pages of people collecting taxpayer funded pensions you are on.
It’s immaterial to the larger issue of adhering to the IL Constitution’s pension payment obligations no matter the size of that obligation at the individual pensioner’s level.
It doesn’t matter what page anyone is on. Maybe I’m on page 1 and I’m making $351,000 per year with a 3% increase every January. Maybe I’m not eligible for a pension and I’m just a taxpayer working in the private sector that has $5 million in a 401k. Either way, it’s my money and it doesn’t matter if you think it’s not fair because you didn’t save enough of your own money. People expect to be paid money that is owed to them whether it’s from the state of Illinois or Fidelity Investments.
Yeah, but I don’t expect to be paid back any more than I invested unless the economy makes my account go up, but it can just as easily make it go down. It’s a crap shoot. Not at all like the guaranteed three percent compounded annual increase a State of Illinois employee gets. So who’s the winner here?
If you worked 35 years for a company that agreed to match your contributions would you expect those contributions to still be part of your 401k even if the company fell on tough times? What about all the investment growth that took place because of those contributions? Would you offer to give that money back? I wouldn’t but maybe your’e different. Also, pensions are not market based but are defined benefit. The state has entered into a contract with a promise to pay based on labor that has been provided. That benefit belongs to the pensioner no different than your… Read more »
My tax dollars didn’t fund anyone’s 401k. They did fund a continually broke state pension fund that in turn wants even more tax revenue instead of trimming their sails in. And, btw, if your job performance was as dismal as that of the CTUs, I seriously doubt that you would be getting a fat pension. And to put the last nail in your arguments coffin, I am in fact doing quite well.
Not a question anymore of “if” but “when”. Chicago and Illinois going into bankruptcy receivership is the potential Road Map. These days that is just science fiction to think that will happen. For you, thankfully that will never happen because there is zero political appetite for it. Your pension check is safe for now. Illinois will just lose more and more people and since that is happening much more rapidly, the alternative which means higher taxes for everyone except the insiders who still have connections to tax lawyers. Commercial property included. The state will barely be kept afloat but taxes… Read more »
For those Chicago-area residents living in upscale SFHs, your $35K-$60K PT estimate could easily become the norm in the not-too-distant future. That’s how out of control IL is. The PT rates of increase that are far outpacing most rates of increase for residents’ incomes will cause many of these upper-middle-income and affluent residents to surpass their thresholds of pain and move out of state. Of course, these are the residents IL can’t afford to lose.
100% correct! Just not enough high net worth individuals on every corner. Numbers will add up to completely destroying the middle class.
Imagine if the unions had not gamed the system the high quality of life everyone else would have. So now everyone is fleeing, you won. Be careful what you wish for as you may get it.
PPF – I don’t think you have it correct. What the legislature has done is engage in inter generational theft by underfunding pensions. Retirees may be the subject of derision or envy, but the legal regime in Illinois is incredibly favorable to pensioners – in practical terms no one is stealing from them. The real challenge is when there are not enough upper middle class income earners – they pay the tax freight – in the coming two decades.
“in practical terms no one is stealing from them.” Not for lack of trying. The GA tried to steal from pensioners until the Supreme Court slapped them down. Yet somehow, some ignorant people believe that decision was corrupt because they didn’t allow the theft to take place. They don’t care that the law clearly states you can’t steal from pensioners and instead want the justices to follow feelings instead of the constitution. The law is favorable because we live by the constitution protects the theft. The legal “regime” is not favorable to pensioners but instead provided the only rational decision… Read more »
The legal regime is more favorable to pensioners in Illinois than virtually any other state or jurisdiction – this seems unassailable- as I have stated before – the legal issues are not where the discussions lie – it is the economics and the sustainability of the state and local entities that matter. Chicago is really the long pole in the tent – and will be crucial going forward. I think you agree
The legal “regime” had no other choice on that decision. It’s clearly written in our constitution. The legal discussion matters in the sense that there is always something else that taxes could be used for instead of paying down its debt. We bring in over 50 billion per year. We just don’t want to prioritize paying down debt. ILSC touched on this very issue. The money is there is just needs to be spent wisely. The student debt decision will come down tomorrow from SCOTUS. If it goes the way it I expect, I can guarantee that all those happy… Read more »
There is another possibility. The pols are doing this on purpose by kicking the can down the road in hopes of paying the bill with inflated or close to worthless dollars. Many countries have seen their currency devalue like Germany-Zimbabwe-Columbia-Venuzuela. Paying down a $200B pension debt liability with inflated currency is possible but unlikely at least for a few years. What will trigger that is anyone’s guess but if we see the uber rich buying hard assets by the billions or collectively trillions in a short period of time watch out because they know something we don’t.
https://www.fleur-de-coin.com/articles/worthless-money
Questioning “need” for public unions an public schools would be, at best, a rhetorical question serving no objective. Chicago’s unionized public employees, and its CPS public school system, are permanently rooted here. Unstoppable and permanent problem, even if direct cause of Chicago’s significant financial and social problems. Note Chicago’s largest employer-entities are government agencies. Whether federal, city, or county government, and yes, CPS school system, these are where most jobs now are. These public agency employees are also BIG BLOCK of voter-constituents; elected officials, and appointed bureaucrats, know their primary purpose is to serve their public employee compatriots. Of little… Read more »
Street, once upon a time public employee unions were illegal everywhere and for good reason. Even FDR was against them. We’ve come full circle and become victims of that incestuous relationship. Poor services and ever higher taxes.
No, fleeing isn’t a good strategy. We have lots of untapped resources and the majority of common sense people on our side.
They’ll screw up your next neighborhood if you don’t fight back and keep giving up ground.
Do yourself a favor Dave and don’t stubbornly waste your life in Illinois. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for the people that care about you.
Not down here they wont. Best move I made was to leave Illinois.
God bless WP – the lone sane voice in IL media it seems. Where are all the other voices? Have they given over to marxism?
Too busy shilling for whatever inane program is on their channel tonight or stupid CGI Disney movie is coming soon to a theater near you. Throw in some fear based weather forecasts and woke sports coverage and that about sums up what passes for news these days.
Lots of voices are casualties of modern communication technology.. People don’t realize that demoralizing comments and endless amplification of “Leave Illinois” messaging will eventually create a vacuum in leadership and balanced debate. A majority of good people are still out there, but they’ve been erroneously convinced that their voice won’t matter.
What do people expect here? Less than 30% of them took the time to actually vote in the past election. Those that did not vote deserve everything they are getting .
Enough with this punitive garbage. Nobody deserves to get ripped off or have their lives adversely altered.
People aren’t voting because they think the system is hopelessly rigged. You’re not helping with your bad attitude.
Feeling guilty about sitting on your ass on election day? You are the problem.
Actually, I’m doing my best to solve problems. I’m working on a big project that exposes the weaponization of the social sciences for political gain. Demoralizing comments like yours and their action deterring effects are discussed at length. Look out for your synthetic demeanor showing up in the highlights.
Too busy playing video games in your Mom’s basement to get out and do your civic duty? Sounds like you are the blame others type when things go wrong.
Unfortunately the election system is more than likely rigged beyond repair. Remember “it’s important of who counts the votes”. We all are from Chicago, which we are now witnessing the “Chicago Way” on a global scale. I am not talking about Malone in the Untouchables. My vote finally counted here in Texas but darker forces are at play you would be blind if you can’t see it. The push for global control of every human being on the planet will not end well. I refuse and will resist. 2024 I think the fix is already in by the agencies. God… Read more »
Your mistake was saying Chicago actually has news outlets. They are nothing but propaganda outlets for the Socialist Democrats
Ted, who is “coalition of concerned Chicagoans”? Hate to say, but picture only show 4 people? I recognize Fioritte
Anthony Travis, a Riverdale resident, was a member of a Pritzker State Property Tax Relief Force Sub-committee (Rep. Mary Flowers appointee) and founding member of the We the People Coalition. (Anthony hidden behind sign but is next to Fioretti.)
Mary Gonzales, a Pilsen resident, Social Justice Chair of St. Paul Catholic Church and retired community organizer.
Gloria Austin from, East Garfield Park community advocate.
They stood with Wirepoints and the Chicago GOP.
Great, I think you need to keep pushing the WP message in Hispanic community. They’re the fastest growing demographic and it seems most underrepresented at CPS, CTU, etc and aren’t the focus of all the systemic disinvestment/ school closing bs. And as such, I’m sure are feeling left out. But that’s just my anecdotal observations as a Chicago resident
I totally agree. CTU, especially, gives mostly token attention to Latinos.
Which is crazy because they are half of enrollment now.
Not just with CPS, but I’m thinking handing out token crumbs to Latinos, IN GENERAL, while obsessed with the whole systemic dis-investment in Black community shtick could be lead to CTU/Brandon and his crews undoing (including all his press and academia leftie elite friends) .
Thank you Ted and Mark for fighting the good fight and for being a tremendous source of freedom and sunlight which Illinois and Chicago so desperately needs.
Great job Ted! I, as well as countless others, would have showed up if we knew.