-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/RNA32576M5AIHLCY2KSSE7Z6KI.jpg)
Gov. JB Pritzker touted his administration’s multimillion-dollar investments in higher education during a news conference Wednesday at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. But when asked afterward about its ability to tout these investments while strikes loom at the other universities, his office blamed past administrations for poor handling of the state budget. “It takes time to repair years of damage and underfunding, and many universities continue to feel that loss. The Governor supports making college more affordable for working families and is working alongside partners in the General Assembly to continue to rebuild these vital institutions.”
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.
SIGN UP HERE FOR OUR FREE WIREPOINTS DAILY NEWSLETTER
It’s amzing how academically weak these smaller public universities in the Chicago area, Governor’s State University, Chicago State University, and Northeastern Illinois University, are.
These universities are jokes that need to be shut down. Their abysmal performance shouldn’t be excused or justified because they cater mostly to students who are older or are racial minorities.
Any competent student, faculty, or staff member at these failed universities would be better served at a functional and academically rigorous university.
If a university can’t operate in a functional and academically rigorous manner, it needs to shut down.
These places are simply extended day care from K-12. More of the same. Do they pick the students up with big yellow “Limousines”, and get a free lunch too – just like in k-12? Just Close it already.
https://www.chicagobusiness.com/politics/mayor-elect-brandon-johnson-joins-picket-line-chicago-state-university
If a professor falls at Governors State, and there are no students are around to hear it, does he make a sound?
up here on northside Northeastern Ill Univ is 1/2 empty as well.
As well as City Colleges.
https://www.wbez.org/stories/with-enrollment-in-freefall-faculty-at-northeastern-illinois-are-fighting-to-preserve-their-chicago-university/8e95af24-1229-4fc3-b16a-8854fcd7b25a
The following passage from the attached article really stands out to me: “Talk to enough faculty and staff at Northeastern Illinois University about why they wanted to work at the campus on Chicago’s Far Northwest Side, and you start to hear a pattern. ‘It made education this thing that was not just for wealthier people and their kids. It was not for predominantly white kids,’ said Chris Merchant, an associate professor of psychology.” I can understand wanting to provide education that is affordable and not just for the kids of wealthier people, but I don’t understand or agree with creating… Read more »
Illinois is broke and they want more money and time off.
Guess who ends up with even less?
Chicago State is a troubled institution. And its problems pre date Rauner’s tenure. The school has 1086 undergrads, 599 part time, on a campus which used to have over 4000 or more. 15 percent of the 587 full timers are athletes, a large percentage at any school, and grad rates are very low, as are starting salaries. Query how vested the unions are in getting the school back to some kind of health in terms of enrollment, finances and completion rates? Likely not vested. The supply side of the education market is saturated, and the number of qualified students is… Read more »
If you can print either your first or last name you probably qualify for admission to CSU.
That’s the challenge. I understand the roles that schools like CSU and NE IL play for non traditional students, but grad rates matter and a large number of unprepared students in the long run make it difficult for these schools to survive, much less prosper. I was struck by the comment of a NE IL faculty member on the challenge of obtaining decent grad rates with unprepared students, referencing “CPS and all that”. There has been a decline of 1M college students since 2019 the schools have to understand they are not immune from market forces. Public unions will be… Read more »
Yes, and I’ve been saying for a while here that changing demographics really suck for college admissions departments. The long term structural trends are bad and not improving. There are fewer students attending college and those that attend are less prepared. Many colleges have successfully scared away white men (a salient fact that is glossed over in many main stream media articles, but can be found out there) so that white men actually account for a majority of the ‘missing’ college students. At the same time, tuition for a four year college costs as much as a home in flyover… Read more »