Chicago Tonight shows credibility gap between Board and reality
The August 5, 2013 edition of Chicago Tonight on WTTW (Channel 11) once again showed how the Chicago Board of Education is doubletalking the main issues facing the schools. The URL for the show is: http://chicagotonight.wttw.com/2013/08/05/impact-cps-layoffs. The show featured former Interim Schools CEO Terry Mazany, CTU Financial Secretary Kristine Mayle, and Board member Andrea Zopp.
As usual, Zopp dodged some key questions, especially when host Carol Marin asked whether there was a "trust issue". CPS had claimed all year that the system was facing a "deficit" of one billion dollars, and last year had told the public that the contract settlement had reduced the system's "reserves" to "zero." Yet in the new budget, more than $600 million came out of reserves to help fund the schools for the budget for FY 2014.
The Board has already finished its budget hearings, which were held on August 1 and 2. But the Board won't vote on the Proposed Budget until its August meeting, which takes place on August 28. More questions will be raised between now and then about the "trust" issue, since the Board on which Zopp sits claimed all year that the "reserves" were "zero" and that there was a "deficit" of a billion dollars. Now?
