đ¤Co-founder @ironlightinc (@C_and_E Public Affairs Firm of the Year) đď¸Executive director, Chicago Policy Center đCo-author âThe New Chicago Wayâ
Chicago, IL
Joined May 2011
- Tweets8.5K
- Following3.2K
- Followers18.4K
- Likes45.6K
Pinned Tweet
NEW: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnsonâs school board is going broke on purpose.
The Chicago Board of Education this week voted to pass a budget the districtâs own CEO and CFO said was unbalanced.
Why?
The roll call offers a clue.
Of the eight members who voted against the budget or abstained, all were seated via competitive elections. But of the 11 members who voted yes, all but one were seated via Mayor Brandon Johnsonâs appointment power.
The budget originally proposed by CPS CEO Dr. Macquline King balanced out in part through a combination of modest staff cuts and furloughs.
Kingâs restraint makes sense in a district that is currently a national leader in empty schools and junk bonds. Chicago Public Schools has added nearly 10,000 staff and $4.2 billion in new spending since 2019, despite enrollment dropping by more than 45,000 students over the same time period.
But board members backed by Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union rejected Kingâs plan. Instead, they passed a nearly $10 billion budget that reversed some of those cuts by assuming an additional $150 million in state money out of thin air.
Kingâs team was clear that this reckless budgeting would hurt the districtâs reputation in the eyes of lenders, leading to higher borrowing costs or shutting the district out of the market altogether.
In response, Johnson-backed board members sent King a scolding letter in which they claimed the budget was balanced and advised King to alter her communications with CPS families. Meanwhile, CTU celebrated the budget vote.
But King was immediately proven right.
S&P Global Ratings Managing Director Jane Ridley said the districtâs reliance on $150 million in unlikely funding shows the board did not address its âunderlying structural imbalance.â
âThe first thing we look at when evaluating a local governmentâs budget is whether itâs structurally balanced, and itâs clear from the budget approved yesterday by the Chicago Board of Ed that CPS continues to face a structural deficit,â Ridley said.
This budget vote was akin to setting the districtâs house on fire and hoping insurance pays out.
That was by design.
Go deeper in this week's edition of The Last Ward âŹď¸
thelastward.org/p/why-brandoâŚ
On @fox32news tonight I broke down Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnsonâs âfair shareâ budget, and a recent conference on Chicago bankruptcy hosted by @ProfSchleich.
NEW: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnsonâs âfair shareâ budget hits everyday Chicagoans far harder than corporations.
Go deeper in this weekâs edition of The Last Ward.
thelastward.org/p/how-johnsoâŚ
NEW: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnsonâs âfair shareâ budget hits everyday Chicagoans far harder than corporations.
Go deeper in this weekâs edition of The Last Ward.
thelastward.org/p/how-johnsoâŚ
Austin Berg retweeted
I wrote a short piece on declining local government capacity, pensions, and obstacles to political accountability. In short: Many people do not notice when there is a slight reduction in the number of instructional aides or police officers, nor are most aware when a city decides to postpone repaving a few street segments. Over time, these changes add up, but even if some constituents do start to notice a difference, it is virtually impossible for them to attribute the changes to decisions about pensions made by policymakers many years ago. The American system of state and local pension governance is also so complex that even the best informed, most engaged citizens would have a very difficult time knowing whom to hold accountable.
Bit by bit, retirement burdens eat up a growing share of spendingâand politics makes them almost impossible to rein in.
In a new essay for Hoover's Commons initiative, Senior Fellow @SarahAnzia explains how public pensions drain local government services: thefreedomfrequency.org/p/hoâŚ
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnsonâs proposed budget includes $480 million in borrowing to pay settlements for police misconduct.
But Johnson senior policy advisor on community safety Alyx Goodwin has heavily criticized this kind of borrowing in the past as âpolice brutality bonds.â
âWe see this very specifically as Wall Street profiting from police violence,â she said in a 2020 webinar for @ACREcampaigns on the subject.
ACRE operates out of the Chicago Teachers Union headquarters and is in part funded by the CTU.
Text from a staffer for Our Schools PAC last week about the report on Hilario Dominguez:
âItâs impossible to know for sure what actually happened, and itâs not uncommon for investigators to fail to address the harm experienced by survivors.â
Our Schools PAC is funded by the Chicago Teachers Union.
In contrast, the Dominguez campaign alleges the report âclears Hilario in full.â
NEW: 5 takeaways from the new inspector general report on allegations against Hilario Dominguez, the Chicago Teachers union political operative turned candidate for school board president.
1. The report says the alleged victimâs account is believable, realistic and not outlandish.
2. It says Dominguezâs alleged conduct âwould not be acceptable behavior for a CPS staff memberâ and would violate todayâs Boundary Standards.
3. The Dominguez campaign is misrepresenting what the report says.
4. At least one of his major backers recognizes the report is not definitive.
5. The dynamics of this case still warrant independent investigation.
Go deeper in this weekâs edition of The Last Ward.
thelastward.org/p/5-takeawayâŚ
NEW: 5 takeaways from the new inspector general report on allegations against Hilario Dominguez, the Chicago Teachers union political operative turned candidate for school board president.
1. The report says the alleged victimâs account is believable, realistic and not outlandish.
2. It says Dominguezâs alleged conduct âwould not be acceptable behavior for a CPS staff memberâ and would violate todayâs Boundary Standards.
3. The Dominguez campaign is misrepresenting what the report says.
4. At least one of his major backers recognizes the report is not definitive.
5. The dynamics of this case still warrant independent investigation.
Go deeper in this weekâs edition of The Last Ward.
thelastward.org/p/5-takeawayâŚ
Austin Berg retweeted
NEW: A former Chicago Public Schools student sent a letter to the CPS inspector general last week.
âI experienced sexual grooming behavior by a former CPS employee and supervisor, Hilario Dominguez, in 2017 at the Resurrection Project,â she wrote, according to the Chicago Tribune.
When she was 17 years old, she alleges Dominguez asked her what kind of men she liked and later lifted her up by her waist. âMy breasts, my legs, everything was pressed against his body,â she said. âI froze.â
Dominguez is the former Chicago Teachers Union political director turned candidate for school board president. And he denies these allegations, which have dominated headlines in the run-up to the Nov. 3 school board elections.
Less discussed is another part of the same letter from the alleged victim to the inspector generalâs office: âI am writing to share my anger, frustration, and disappointment, but most importantly, the deep sense of injustice I faced as a result of your poor conduct in relation to this investigation.â
The officeâs governance structure calls into question its ability to impartially investigate these serious claims against Dominguez.
Candidates for school board, and Mayor Brandon Johnson, should be saying so.
Go deeper in this weekâs edition of The Last Ward.
thelastward.org/p/why-the-alâŚ
NEW: A former Chicago Public Schools student sent a letter to the CPS inspector general last week.
âI experienced sexual grooming behavior by a former CPS employee and supervisor, Hilario Dominguez, in 2017 at the Resurrection Project,â she wrote, according to the Chicago Tribune.
When she was 17 years old, she alleges Dominguez asked her what kind of men she liked and later lifted her up by her waist. âMy breasts, my legs, everything was pressed against his body,â she said. âI froze.â
Dominguez is the former Chicago Teachers Union political director turned candidate for school board president. And he denies these allegations, which have dominated headlines in the run-up to the Nov. 3 school board elections.
Less discussed is another part of the same letter from the alleged victim to the inspector generalâs office: âI am writing to share my anger, frustration, and disappointment, but most importantly, the deep sense of injustice I faced as a result of your poor conduct in relation to this investigation.â
The officeâs governance structure calls into question its ability to impartially investigate these serious claims against Dominguez.
Candidates for school board, and Mayor Brandon Johnson, should be saying so.
Go deeper in this weekâs edition of The Last Ward.
thelastward.org/p/why-the-alâŚ
WATCH: Candidate for Chicago school board president Hilario Dominguez is now criticizing reporters from the Chicago Tribune after they broke news of an inspector general investigation into his alleged misconduct with a Chicago Public Schools student.
WATCH: Tense moment as Hilario Dominguez refuses to answer a question from former Chicago Public Schools board present Rufus Williams about why reporters are waiting to talk to him outside a City Club event.
This exchange occurred shortly after @nbcchicago aired the first on-camera interview with a former Chicago Public Schools student accusing Dominguez of misconduct.
Dominguez is currently running for Chicago school board president after serving as the Chicago Teachers Unionâs political director.
Happy 80th birthday to the late John Prine. Beautiful map released this week as part of Chicagoâs citywide celebration of his life. By Ryan Duggan and @markguarino.
NEW: Chicago has the fewest borrowing restrictions of any big city government in the nation, according to a new analysis from the Chicago Policy Center.
City Council voted last week to implement a modest new limit on borrowing. It would raise the requirement from a simple majority to a three-fifths majority vote in council to approve new debt.
But Mayor Brandon Johnson and his top ally attacked the measure as a racist plot.
Go deeper in this weekâs edition of The Last Ward.
thelastward.org/p/chicago-haâŚ
Chicago is facing a nearly $900 million budget deficit, and taxpayers are the ones paying the price. We need responsible guardrails on borrowing, accountability at City Hall, and leadership focused on getting Chicagoâs fiscal house in order.
Chicago taxpayers have had enough. Itâs time to demand better.
BREAKING: Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson just vetoed an ordinance requiring a 30-vote supermajority in City Council to borrow money. No big city has fewer borrowing limits than Chicago. And no big city has a lower credit rating, either.
NEW: Chicago has the fewest borrowing restrictions of any big city government in the nation, according to a new analysis from the Chicago Policy Center.
City Council voted last week to implement a modest new limit on borrowing. It would raise the requirement from a simple majority to a three-fifths majority vote in council to approve new debt.
But Mayor Brandon Johnson and his top ally attacked the measure as a racist plot.
Go deeper in this weekâs edition of The Last Ward.
thelastward.org/p/chicago-haâŚ
Austin Berg retweeted
The New York Review of Architecture is invading Chicago, with the aiding and abetting of locals Zach Mortice, Anjulie Rao and Kate Wagner.
luma.com/69dp3aq1?utm_campaiâŚ
The âI Willâ woman is an underrated Chicago symbol.
Honoring the 155th Anniversary of the Great Chicago Fire!
Starting on October 8, 1871, the fire destroyed approximately 17,500 structures across 4 square miles. Approximately 300 Chicagoans died and over 100,000 lost their homes.
But Chicago would rise from the ashes and rebuild stronger than before!
Original art by Haden Miller for Preservation Chicago.
hadendoesart.com/all-prints/âŚ
