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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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WIU/Macomb is only 175 miles from EIU/Charleston.
Seems like a simple solution except Big Guvmnt is involved/
Somebody drove it in the ditch…I have a hunch.
In general, there are more administrators than teachers at most colleges. Deans for this, deans for that and so on. Start cutting the administrative fat and see how the funding looks.
There are any number of issues inherent in public universities getting any funding from the state… If they cannot survive on their own merits, it’s hard to support their continued existence… They are businesses, if their product is lagging the market, they need to improve or go away… Sadly, with the tenure system in place, it seems like some substandard folks may be keeping someone better from getting that job… Who knew a system subsidized by cheap FED money (college loans) would go wrong? Notwithstanding the diminished value represented by a four year degree… People are becoming more discriminating… Thank… Read more »
They don’t seem to realize that the push to forgive student loan debt is basically an admission that many degrees are not worth the cost. But is that the lesson that will be learned? No, the universities would just use it to promote business as usual- lining their own pockets.
Death spiral IMO.
Fewer and fewer college age students makes it tough for marginal colleges like Western.
UIUC is going strong with record enrollments.
Let the free market work. If the school is no longer needed, close it.
Sounds a lot like Chicago schools but they just increase the administration not reduce it.
I would imagine the quality of the state schools is greater than that of the City Colleges, but, who knows…
This is damning, from the article: “Why is this happening? It’s not complicated. Student enrollment at Western has fallen off the proverbial cliff… Between 2010 and 2014, the number of students at the school hovered around 12,000. But then it took a dive over several years. In fall 2023, the university enrolled 7,023 students. Interim President Kristi Mindrup has said she expects enrollment this fall to be between 5,500 and 6,000 students… Students have many choices of where to go to school. Once word gets out of disappearing faculty and courses and a general malaise on campus, the job of… Read more »
You have summed it up very well.
Illinois schools suck generally and white males have stopped attending lower tiered colleges. That has lead to a massive drop-off in college attendance nationally. I have several intelligent male relatives that 15 years ago would have gone to college, but today, are incels working at pizza hut. I have some in-laws in several other midwestern states I saw recently, and only one of their male children went to college – a state flagship – the others didn’t go at all. I have a friend from high school and his son also will also be attending a midwestern state flagship, but… Read more »
Debtsor – what kind of employment outcomes can WIU grads expect? A friend with a BS and Masters degree in business from WIU works as a truck dispatcher. Another friend with a logistics business in DC hires his dispatchers directly from high school. Apparently the skill is in handling the three alarm fire that is Thursday and Friday afternoons. In any event, anecdotal – but am astounded this guy is stuck in this job with student loans to pay.
Moreover, the gender gap at schools is a huge problem. Schools are admitting far more women and rejecting men leading to campuses that are unequal. I love looking at DePaul because they are blatantly and openly against men, and especially white males. Depaul’s freshman class last year was only 16.6% white but 23.9% hispanic and 16.8% black, which is not at all reflective of the US, Illinois or Local student population. Males are only 44% of the 16.6% of the white freshman class. Which, if my math is correct, of the 3,693 freshman at DePaul last year, only 275 of… Read more »