Number of half-empty Chicago public schools doubles, yet lawmakers want to extend school closing moratorium – Wirepoints
April 19, 2024
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A set of state lawmakers want to extend CPS’ current school closing moratorium to February 1, 2027 – the same year CPS is set to transition to a fully-elected school board. That means schools like Manley High School, with capacity for more than 1,000 students but enrollment of just 78, can’t be closed for anther three years. The school spends $45,000 per student, but just 2.4% of students read at grade level.
Hopefully, all media will get the message, in Illinois, too.
Ted joined Tom Miller of WJPF to talk about Illinois’ highest-in-the-nation property taxes, why lawmakers don’t want to touch the tax’s cost drivers, just how much Illinoisans’ tax burden has grown over the decades, why Gov. Pritzker failed to meet his promise to reform property taxes, and more.
Most developers consider 1871 a joke. It has all the ‘right’ people onboard – every venture capital firm, every private equity firm, every university entrepreneurship program. And they’re all looking for the next big thing – that they can benefit from (attach their name to, invest in, etc.). It hasn’t happened. True entrepreneurs can easily spot wantabes and parasites.
Couple of things stick out on the 990:
1) Deferred rent = $5.8 million. Is this the rent 1871 owes to JB and other 1871 investors? Seems excessive. When will it get paid, if at all?
2) How does a non-profit with less than $9M in revenue and a $1.2M loss justify paying its CEO over $450,000 per year?
https://www.guidestar.org/FinDocuments/2017/208/411/2017-208411320-0f1eabf6-9.pdf