Principal's critique of Board of Education's principals' meeting... CPS officials repeated City Hall talking points to captive audience... 'These things are forcing us to choose between making pension payments and making needed investments in the classroom'...
Blaine Elementary School Principal Troy LaRaviere (right) with some of Blaine's reasons for being. Photo by the Blaine PTA.[Editor's Note: The article below was forwarded to Substance almost immediately after it was circulated. Since then, we have received it over and over from those who are asking us to republish it. Here it is, published with permission of Mr. LaRaviere. George N. Schmidt, Editor, Substance].
Adding Insult to Injury: A Look Inside a CPS Principals Budget Meeting, by Troy LaRaviere
On Monday, July 13, 2015, principals from across the city met in a high school auditorium to receive our budgets, most of which were slashed. Before giving us our budgets, CPS officials subjected principals to a one-hour presentation citing what in their words were the things that �forced� them to cut resources to students.
What ensued was the following series of one-sided political talking points straight from the Mayor�s press office as principals were forced to sit passively with no opportunity to for questions or comments.
�We have a budget deficit of more than $1billion"
�We have a broken state pension system"
"Springfield lawmakers have failed to take action"
�These things are forcing us to choose between making pension payments and making needed investments in the classroom."
Each point had its own unique irrational false logic. Take the last point for example: CPS claiming their choice is between paying teachers salaries & benefits or improving classrooms is like the Chicago Bulls saying their choice is between paying player salaries or improving the team. Is there a more important expense toward improving a team than investing in its players? Is there a more important expense for improving a school system than investing in its teachers? The funds used on a salary and benefits package aimed at attracting and retaining skilled and competent teachers for our students is the most important classroom investment a school district can make. CPS's "teacher compensation vs. classroom investments� conundrum is a false choice based on a misleading political talking point that had no place in a principals budget meeting.
Yet there we were, forced to sit and listen without comment. We�ve heard these talking points in past budget meetings but they were particularly insulting to any well-informed self-respecting educator after bearing witness to a year of numerous budget related scandals and fiscal recklessness involving CPS and the Mayor�s Office. As I listened to each point, the contradictions became progressively more apparent and unbearable to endure without comment.
I raised my hand.
The CPS official looked my way but kept talking.
I kept my hand up for five minutes.
The official kept talking, reached the end of the presentation and began walking off stage.
I projected my voice from the back of the auditorium toward the stage, �I have a question."
�We will not take questions here. We will break out in small groups in separate classrooms and you will be able to ask your question in your small group."
The response was jarring; it stirred a memory of a 2013 CPS �hearing� on school closings. Hundreds of community members from Brenneman, Steward, Stockton, and Trumbull schools came to Truman College to voice their support for their schools remaining open. Instead CPS officials showed up with a PowerPoint presentation filled with talking points in support of school closings. When parents attempted to question the officials at this �hearing," those parents were told they would not take questions or comments; they should save their questions for the small group �breakout� sessions where they could approach a facilitator one-on-one. In other words those officials were telling the stakeholders, �Everyone will hear us, but almost no one will hear you.� Community members refused to be split up to have their voices muffled, and the fiasco that ensued is documented in this video. It was not a �hearing.� It was an Orwellian attempt to dominate the messaging behind school closings by elevating the voices of public officials while marginalizing the voices of students, parents, and community members.
So there we were, several hundred principals being talked at and having our voices suppressed by CPS officials using the same approach they used against a group of students, parents and community members whose schools they intended to shut down.
Let me state that again for my principal colleagues: They treated all of us the way they treated communities whose schools they were shutting down.
I decided the critical questions that needed to be raised were not going to be marginalized to a one-on-one side conversation. They were presenting false and misleading information to all principals and it needed to be addressed with all principals present.
As the official walked toward the side of the stage, I began to ask my question.
�You�ve talked about Springfield and teacher pensions as the source of our budget problems, but at any point during this presentation do you plan to address CPS�s own wasteful spending and the reckless fiscal mismanagement that contributed to this budget crisis? Do you plan to address the purchase of $10 million dollars in office furniture for Central Offices after you closed 50 schools? Do you plan to address the $20 million expenditure on SUPES academy that is now under federal investigation? Do you plan to address the $17million in pre-k money spent on unnecessary interest payments to three Rahm Emanuel campaign contributors? Do you plan to address the diversion of $55 million from public schools and parks on a private hotel and stadium? Do you plan to address the $100 to $200 million in financial penalties due to the toxic financial deals of board president David Vitale? Do you plan to address the $340 million spent on two custodial management firms that have failed to keep our schools clean? Do you plan to address how CPS repeatedly diverted money away from paying its debts toward wasteful spending like this?"
At that point, interim CEO Jesse Ruiz stood up, projected his voice, and with a somewhat stern and agitated tone stated �You can get your question addressed outside in the hall with me.�
Once again a CPS official was stating, �Everyone will hear us, but no one will hear you, and no one will hear our response to you."
His standing up was a bold move, seemingly intended to either intimidate me or make other principals think twice about seconding my question.
�My question needs to be addressed right here with the principals in this room,� I replied.
�You are disrupting this meeting,� he said.
�And you are insulting the intelligence of everyone in this meeting,� I countered.
At that point, my network chief asked that I accept the CEO�s offer to step outside the meeting; so I did. As I left I told principals, �If anyone else is interested in his answer to the question, we�ll be right outside the door.� As expected, no principal took me up on my offer. When we got into the hallway we began to engage in what I can only describe as a testosterone driven back-and-forth aimed at little else except besting the other�s last comment.
I�m sure there is quite a bit I�ve left out due to the limitations of my own memory, but here is�to the best of that memory�how it went once we left the auditorium.
LaRaviere: That political propaganda had no place in a principal�s budget meeting.
Ruiz: If you�re so unhappy with CPS, why do you stay in it?
LaRaviere: To save it from people like you.
Ruiz: [I can�t remember his exact words, but it had something to do with the budget]
LaRaviere: Your mayor has diverted over 2 billion tax payer dollars to his campaign contributors.
Ruiz: He�s your mayor too.
At this point Ruiz launched into an extended critique of my involvement in the Chuy Garcia campaign.
LaRaviere: Please. Don�t lecture me on the ethics of principals being involved in election campaigns when you work for a mayor who repeatedly pulled CPS principals out of their buildings during work hours to stand on stage with him at his campaign events. Let�s get back to the point. Your mayor diverted 2 billion taxpayer dollars to his campaign contributors (both Daley and Emanuel).
Ruiz: And what is your source for that?
LaRaviere: Forbes Magazine
Ruiz: Well I�m sure they didn�t cite any evidence.
LaRaviere: They cited about a decade of receipts from City Hall's vendor checkbook.
Ruiz: You�re nothing but a loud-mouthed principal.
�Did the CEO of CPS just resort to name-calling?� I thought. The exchange had already sunk low enough. I wasn�t about to sink to name calling�especially with my boss. I will tell my boss a truth he doesn�t want to hear and raise questions he doesn't want to answer, but I�m not calling him names. It was after the �loud-mouthed principal� comment that I decided to end the exchange.
LaRaviere: It�s obvious I�m not going to get my question answered here so I�m going back in to listen to rest of this nonsense propaganda.
Ruiz: If you think it�s nonsense, why would you sit through it. I would not sit through nonsense.
LaRaviere: That�s because you�re too busy dishing it out.
[I walked away and returned to the auditorium]
We had left the auditorium because Ruiz invited me into the hallway with the understanding that he would address a question I posed about CPS�s reckless spending. However, the exchange we had outside that room quickly degenerated into a chest pounding stand-off, much of which had nothing to do with my question about CPS spending. The CEO of Chicago Pubic Schools and one of its must successful principals were going toe-to-toe like two overstimulated teenaged jocks�in public. It was certainly not my proudest moment, and I doubt it made Ruiz�s top ten list.
What I am proud of however is my decision to not to sit silently in that meeting as public officials slashed our budgets, then demonized teacher compensation and blamed state politicians for the state of finances in CPS; all while refusing to acknowledge their own reckless mismanagement of CPS resources.
There is a common and somewhat vulgar saying that embodies what I felt as CPS slashed school budgets and attempted to blame the state and teachers for its own irresponsible choices:
"Don�t p*ss on me and then try to tell me it�s raining.�
A Chicago Tribune editorial encapsulated it using less vulgar language in an article and accompany tweet: �Chicago faults Springfield for school mess? Like Bonnie Blaming Clyde."
Yesterday�just two days after my exchange with Ruiz--Forest Claypool was selected by Rahm Emanuel as the new CEO of CPS; the fourth CEO we�ve had in the four years I�ve been principal. I do not expect anything to change; a new figurehead mouthing the same talking points from the mayor�s communications office; the same PowerPoint presentations filled with half-truths and false logic; the same �Listen to me, but don�t expect me to listen to you� approach to meeting with principals, students, and parents; the same attempts to place blame for CPS finances on others without acknowledging their own role in creating the mess we�re in; the same anti-student and anti-teacher budget slashing approach to public schools; and the same amazing self-respecting students, parents, teachers, principals and community members fighting it every step of the way.
Troy LaRaviere, CPS Principal
TroyLaRaviere@gmail.com
@TroyLaRaviere
https://www.facebook.com/troylaraviere
REFERENCES
Andrzejewski, Adam (March 25, 2015). The Moral Bankruptcy of Chicago�s Elites: As the City Approaches Bankruptcy Chicago�s Elites Line their Pockets with Taxpayer Money. Forbes Magazine.
Link: http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamandrzejewski/2015/03/25/moral-bankruptcy-of-chicagos-elites/
Labor Beat (January 30, 2013). Fiasco - CPS School Closing Hearing 2013 (Video).
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOSWKkJT3j8
Chicago Tribune Editorial Board (July 2, 2015). CPS: Stop Blaming Springfield.
Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/editorials/ct-cps-rahm-emanuel-springfield-edit-0703-20150702-story.html
FitzPatrick, Lauren (March 25, 2014). CPS Wants to Spend $10 Million on Office Furniture. Chicago Sun-Times.
Link: http://chicago.suntimes.com/uncategorized/7/71/187614/chicago-public-schools-wants-to-spend-nearly-10-million-on-furniture-other-costs
Karp, Sarah & Sanchez, Melissa (April 20, 2015). Civic Leaders Seek to Distance Themselves from SUPES Academy, Now a Target of Federal Probe. Chicago-Catalyst.
Link: http://catalyst-chicago.org/2015/04/civic-leaders-seek-to-distance-themselves-from-supes-contract-targeted-by-feds/
Sanchez, Melissa (March 17, 2015). Emanuel Preschool Expansion Facing Enrollment Woes. Chicago-Catalyst.
Link: http://catalyst-chicago.org/2015/03/emanuels-preschool-expansion-facing-enrollment-woes/
Joravsky, Ben (December 3, 2014). How Investment Bankers are Set to Profit from Rahm�s Preschool Plan. Chicago Reader.
Link: http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/mayor-rahm-preschool-expansion-investment-bank-profits/Content?oid=15790297
Grotto, Jason & Gillers, Heather (November 7, 2014). Risky Bonds Prove Costly for Chicago Public Schools. Chicago Tribune.
Link: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/watchdog/cpsbonds/ct-chicago-public-schools-bond-deals-met-20141107-story.html#page=1
FitzPatrick, Lauren & Spielman, Fran (March 19, 2015). CPS Principals Say Schools Remain �Filthy� under $340M Janitorial Contract. Chicago Sun-Times.
Link: http://chicago.suntimes.com/news-chicago/7/71/454387/cps-principals-say-private-aramark-janitorial-management-still-isnt-working
Troy LaRaviere | July 16, 2015 at 9:29 am | Categories: Uncategorized | URL: http://wp.me/p556RL-4l
Comments:
By: Larry Duncan
Glad Labor Beat video is helpful here
We are gratified that Troy LaRaviere was able to use for historic reference our Labor Beat video ("Fiasco - CPS School Closing Hearing 2013"). CPS is up to its old tricks. They want to atomize any opposition and control the discussion in the meeting LaRaviere describes, just as they are doing with the CPS Board monthly "public" hearings.
By: Troy LaRaviere
Response to "principal's comment worth reading"
Rod,
You seem to have missed the point and made a few errors of your own.
I list far more that $302 million, so someone�s math is off, but it�s not mine.
The $2 billion goes back to 2002, not 1989. If you�d read the Forbes article I cited (and referenced in the text), it is clear that it�s 2002. Also in the text, I mentioned a �decade� of receipts, not 25 years.
You seem to have missed the point that the article is a recounting of a conversation in which Emanuel became the subject for a short time. In pointing out the corruption of the Emanuel administration, one would necessarily need to look at �both CPS and City Hall� finances since he controls both.
At end of your post you call for �balance.� That was my point. The PowerPoint presentation we were subjected to included several of the perspectives you mentioned and I also mentioned them when I listed the elements of that presentation. My question to CPS officials was �Do you plan to address CPS�s own wasteful spending and the reckless fiscal mismanagement that contributed to this budget crisis?� In other words, �Where�s the balance?�
You seemed to have ignored the fact that I (1) clearly used the word �contributed,� which acknowledges the existence of other factors, and (2) I listed those factors, and (3) given my question, I would necessarily focus on those aspects of the budget that where left out of their presentation. In other words, I provided �balance.�
In the end, no short article author can include every detail and perspective that readers like yourself would like to see covered. Eventually, readers will�well�stop reading. That�s why I did something that few short article/blog writers do these days which is to cite references for people who�d like to read further. If you took enough time to post this comment, you could have taken enough time to ensure you understood the context of the article, and the relevant citations.
I could be wrong here, but it appears as though you did not, and therefore left with a limited understanding of the very thing you are seeking, which is an understanding of �the balance here and how things fit together.�
By: Rod Estvan
responding to Principal Troy LaRaviere
Principal LaRaviere your comment caused me to read in detail the Forbes article and it clearly indicates that it was discussing only City of Chicago vendor contributions to Mayor Emanuel and the author did not look at all at CPS vendors. It is possible indeed that CPS vendors also gave money to Emanuel, but the article you used did not research that.
In order to call out then acting CEO Jesse Ruiz aside from the probable inappropriate expenditures you site there was the aspect of Chicago's low property tax rate that you never discussed. As far as I know CPS has the lowest property tax rate for schools in Cook county. I suspect you supported a graduated income tax which has failed to gain the support necessary to amend the IL Constitution which bans it as did many progressive educators in Illinois.
The Forbes article you cited also incorrectly made it sound like Chicago was a high property tax City, the conservative Civic Federation has looked at this issue and shown Residential property tax rates in Chicago have risen by more than 30% since 2003, while most other communities in Cook County have experienced residential property tax increases of at least 55% over the same period. Chicago has had the lowest effective tax rates for residential and industrial properties comparatively for Cook County so its slower rate of increase begins from a lower base point.
CPS has had its own internal corruption costs going back in time to the early 1900s, there is nothing new here. I suspect to will continue to one degree or another for the rest of my life. The total numbers you are putting forward for inappropriate expenditures are insufficient to balance the budget, it would help for sure though if they all could be eliminated. But corruption seems endemic to big city school systems and some level is unfortunately to be expected.
Principals like yourself who have been passed the burden of making budget cuts because of site based management implemented through student based budgeting need to be calling for a Property Tax Extension Limitation Law (PTELL)referendum that would allow CPS to generate more money than is allowed by the limitation. I do not know if it can pass, but it should be attempted.
Just pointing to corruption does not fix the problem, assuming the State governed by Mr. Rauner will increase funding to CPS seems delusional unless Mayor Emanuel, Speaker Madigan, and the Democrats agree to completely gut the collective bargaining rights of all CPS employees.
Rod Estvan
By: Troy LaRaviere
Response to Rod
You write as if the Forbes article is the only article I cited. I cited several articles, one of which is a Tribune piece that details the contributions of 60 Emanuel campaign contributors--many of who received CPS money. I also recounted several in the text. Let me quote it for you:\r\r�You�ve talked about Springfield and teacher pensions as the source of our budget problems, but at any point during this presentation do you plan to address CPS�s own wasteful spending and the reckless fiscal mismanagement that contributed to this budget crisis? Do you plan to address the purchase of $10 million dollars in office furniture for Central Offices after you closed 50 schools? Do you plan to address the $20 million expenditure on SUPES academy that is now under federal investigation? Do you plan to address the $17million in pre-k money spent on unnecessary interest payments to three Rahm Emanuel campaign contributors? Do you plan to address the diversion of $55 million from public schools and parks on a private hotel and stadium? Do you plan to address the $100 to $200 million in financial penalties due to the toxic financial deals of board president David Vitale? Do you plan to address the $340 million spent on two custodial management firms that have failed to keep our schools clean? Do you plan to address how CPS repeatedly diverted money away from paying its debts toward wasteful spending like this?\"\r\rBeyond that, once again you seem completely divorced from the context of my essay recounting my experience at a CPS budget meeting. You certainly have an argument--much of which I do not disagree with. However, you seem to be criticizing my recounting of my experience because it doesn\'t make your argument for you. If you want your argument out their, then go ahead and write the essay for the purposes of furthering your point. What you\'re doing right now is akin to criticizing a recipe for Lasagna because it doesn\'t show you how to bake cookies.\r
By: Rod Estvan
Yes I saw that statement in your post
As I indicated earlier the total expenditures that could be considered in your essay as completely useless ( maybe corrupt )spending is about $302 million.
The $340 million for custodial services would probably cost the same or more if it were either done by CPS employees or by a better external privatized firm for cleaning. It really does not generate anything to help with the budget crisis. (For the record I support this work being done by unionized CPS employees not subcontractors.) It was a horrible deal engineered primarily by Tim Cawley to be sure that probably low balled the actual costs because CPS had so little operating cash on hand to pay for those services.
I did not see anything in the Chicago Tribune Editorial Board statement dated July 2, 2015 cited by you that discussed CPS vendors giving money to Mayor Emanuel's campaign. The editorial is scathing in relation to CPS borrowing practices, but does not touch on the same issue as the Forbes article did. Its really a CPS pull yourself up by your boot straps essay in my opinion.
The other Tribune article you cite from 2014 written by Jason Grotto & Heather Gillers does not discuss campaign contributions to Mayor Emanuel or Daley by CPS vendors either, its focus was on bad borrowing practices of CPS using swaps. The Gillers article was a great article on the Swaps which both George Schmidt and others had looked at before her.
Ben Joravsky's article really does not discuss CPS vendors who gave money to the Emanuel campaign either. But I suspect if one did the type of research Forbes did one would find CPS vendors who gave Mayor Emanuel money. One could argue that its the Chicago way and since I am in my 60s I have seen this my entire life as has George and other readers of Substance.
I also found it disturbing that acting CEO Ruiz responded to you the way he did. I assume he believed you owed him deference due to the position he was holding and that you are part of the CPS administration as a middle manager. He seems to have little understanding that CPS principals under the school reform act are effectively elected officials and as such deserve the right to represent the constituents that approved their contracts and have the right to publicly disagree with him.
You are correct that CPS has taken no ownership for its own mistakes, but admission of mistakes, crooked deals etc., will not balance the books or lessen the cuts you and other principals will have to implement in the coming days. Really only money will address those problems.
Rod Estvan
By: Troy LaRaviere
Rod
I'm not quite sure how you're missing this, so I'll be explicit.
Joravsky Article: Goldman Sachs, Northern Trust, and Pritzker. All Emanuel Campaign Contributors
Also, you read every Tribune article except the right one, here:
Chase, John; Coen, Jeff & Ruthhart, Bill (January 30, 2015). Rahm Emanuel Counts on Big Donors, with Many getting City Hall Benefits. Chicago Tribune.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/politics/ct-rahm-emanuel-political-donors-met-20150130-story.html#page=1
By: George N. Schmidt
Forbes readers helping a lot...
I'm glad that more and more people concerned with the intricate corruptions of Chicago's mayor and the leaders of our public schools will be reading Forbes more. When I brought the current issue downstairs here for the "clip pile" my soon-to-be-fifth grade son asked about the cover story, featuring Katy Perry wearing a dress decorated with dollar signs. As obscene, and telling, of course, as any rapper with a huge diamond-studded six inch dollar sign bling around his neck. I explained how the Super Bowl helped Katy Perry become this year's wealthiest "entertainer" and how Forbes writes about that kind of stuff.
"So why are you reading it?" he asked, in a sort of demanding way.
"You've got to know how the rich are explaining their world, since they are the ones trying to make sure that you can't play sixteen inch softball at school next year?" I explained.
"Are all rich people [nasty]...?" he came back.
"No," I explained. "In fact, when we were sued by Paul Vallas and the mayor for a million dollars, one of the richest people in Chicago called and donated a lot of money to help us pay for lawyers those years."
"Who was it?" curious child asked.
"I promised I'd never tell anyone but your mother," I answered, and held my tongue even though it was, now, 16 years ago.
I think the "Why?" about reading Forbes is now clear to at least two CPS students (both of whom are opting out of most -- not all -- testings).
But I left out the "Chainsaw Paul..." part. Back when Forbes was part of the silly propaganda machine pouring out nonsense about the superiority of the "business model" for running public schools, Forbes began calling Paul Vallas "Chainsaw Paul" -- after the nickname they have bestowed on Al Dunlap, CEO (then) of Sunbeam. Forbes, however, got caught in the switches. Just as they were beginning the "Chainsaw Paul" nonsense, a Business Week reporter exposed the fact that "Chainsaw Al..." (Dunlap) was a fraud. The expose became a great investigative book about not only a business fraud, but also about the corruption of the business "press" (with rare exceptions, like Burns, who blew the whistle on Al Dunlap and that round of frauds).
And so we continue to read and debate how the ruling class handles the version of information it provides us. I'm glad others are reading Forbes, although I seriously recommend that nobody pay more than $10 a year for a subscription to any of the really serious ruling class propaganda sheets. If you hold out and play hard to get (and you are over 65, as I now am) almost all of them will eventually send you a massive "senior citizen discount" on a mail subscription.
So you, too, can enjoy a debate at substancenews.net over Rahm's corruptions, and also answer questions about Katy Perry from a precocious ten-year-old.
Thanks to everyone who is paying this close attention to the realities we are facing at CPS in this latest age of lies about "deficits" and such stuff. And now I've got to go download and read the agenda for tomorrow's Board of Education meeting...
By: bob Busch
budget
I read this this morning.\rhttps://www.facebook.com/richard.martin.79069/posts/10204726929152784 is a pretty good read.More importantly it shows how the Board is not capable of telling the truth
By: Rod Estvan
Contributions and elected Chicago Mayors
The John Chase, Jeff Coen and Bill Ruthhart Tribune article as far as I can see does not discuss any Emanuel campaign contributors who may have gotten any deals with CPS. It is certainly possible that this happened but the authors of that article did not research that issue. The financial sector that provides loans and services to all public sector entities has been historically a contributor to Mayors in Chicago including both Richard M and Richard J Daley.
The bankers and the richest Chicagoans even initially backed Big Bill Thompson the most corrupt of all Chicago Mayors who was a Republican until his links to organized crime and support from Chicago's Black community unnerved them. There is no surprise that the financial sector attempts to seek favorable treatment from a Mayor. The Bussiness elite has had members on the CPS Board since the early 1900s, most were contributors and supporters of the siting Mayor, Norm Bobins for example gave money to Daley.
The fiscal issues facing CPS right now are a development not fully dependent on political corruption in Chicago. They are also dependent on property tax revenue and state funding for education. Principals who have to administer the cuts that are coming down including maxing special education student teacher ratios, and many other bad things need to present a viable critique of CPS finances. That critique needs to balance all aspects of the crisis CPS finds itself in.
Rod Estvan
By: George N. Schmidt
CPS is not the only way to riches in Chicago...
Just a short note: Deals with CPS are not the only way to wealth at the public trough in Chicago (or probably anywhere for that matter). Directly tied to "CPS" are the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund (which includes two Chicago Board members among its 12 trustees), the Public Building Commission, and a host of other entities, all of which are spending tax dollars and could be utilized for private gain. In fact, I suspect that a close look at the fate of CTA and Park District dollars under the reign of "Mr. Fixit" (Forrest Claypool) will reveal that such such were the deals. But those are stories to savor in the future, as Substance enters our 41st year on August 1, 2015. For now, let's admit that a deal steered through any of those other public bodies ensnared in Rahm's web could be reported in this way. It's good that the Tribune is paying closer attention than it was during the days when Sam Zell ran that sorry "show." A nice example is the DuPage County scandal, proving that rock ribbed Republican enclaves are as capable of "corruption" as "Crook County and Chiraq." After all, the College of DuPage was an outpost of the government there, not the center thereof. Similarly as we watch all this nouveau neoliberal nonsense unfold here in Chicago in the "Post-Vitale" days at CPS... There are a lot of rocks to look under, and this week we have another one, as I'm reporting, with CPS about to approve (tomorrow) another $3.1 million to AUSL -- while claiming it has to borrow a billion to stay afloat.
By: Rod Estvan
Principal's comment worth reading
First off thanks to Substance for posting this. Troy LaRaviere's commentary on the principal's budget meeting was powerful in relationship to justifiable indignation, but oddly a disaster mathematically. Principal Troy LaRaviere in one paragraph lists a total of $302 million in questionable expenditures covering multiple fiscal years and at another point he writes that mayor's Daley and Emanuel "diverted 2 billion taxpayer dollars to (their) campaign(s)." Apparently the $2 billion covers a period of time going back maybe to 1989 when Daley was elected and going forward to 2015, it apparently also covers not just CPS funds but all City related taxing bodies.
As all of us know on this blog $302 million in bogus expenditures does not even equal half of the last pension payment CPS made just in June. I have absolutely no way of calculating what impact the supposed diversion of tax payer dollars to campaigns would be for CPS over many years. There is a legitimate point to be made about the impact of political corruption on CPS finances, about bad deals made for political purposes, but doing it the way Principal LaRaviere did it in his commentary actually damages those legitimate arguments. I understand Principal LaRaviere's passion, but it needs to be tempered by looking at the multiple inputs that go into CPS finances, inclusive of local taxation, expenditures (both legitimate and corrupt), and state/federal funding.
LaRaviere's approach to educational finance is the mirror image of official City line that blames the fiscal woes of CPS on the State of Illinois, it emphasizes political corruption as the root of the disaster CPS faces. It is not completely unlike the CTU approach of arguing the district is broke on purpose. There needs to be some balance here in how these factors fit together.
Rod Estvan