-- Connecting the dots between our economy, government and business --
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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Teacher evaluations should most definitely be linked to test scores. Throwing money at education doesn’t work. Teachers need to teach reading and math and be graded on their performance, just like the private sector. Merit based raises only.
Perfect! The test scores are falling, and nobody wants to take responsibility for it. The trend may be away from linking evaluations to test scores, but that doesn’t make it a good idea. So the “answer” is to just throw more money at the problem. I am so glad my kids are beyond school age. If they weren’t, I’d seriously be looking into home schooling.