-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
ASPIRA is the latest charter school operator in CPS to run into serious financial problems. Already this school year, a small charter school in South Chicago announced plans to close in June. And last school year, one of the district’s largest charter school networks, Acero, announced plans to shutter seven of its 15 schools. But the CPS Board of Education decided to take over the management of five of them.
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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