Chicago Public Schools debt slides deeper into ‘junk’ status

By Austin Berg

01/15/2016

Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services issued a two-notch downgrade to the Chicago Board of Education on Jan. 15, citing failure to address the district’s structural financial problems.

TAGS: Chicago, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, credit rating, pensions, Standard & Poor's

8 things to know about Chicago’s pension-reform law

By Ted Dabrowski, John Klingner

11/15/2015

A Cook County judge is scheduled to rule on the constitutionality of Chicago's pension-reform law on July 24. No matter what the outcome is, the pension overhaul will eventually end up in the Illinois Supreme Court. But the ruling may give a clue as to whether or not the city’s reforms will ultimately be upheld.

TAGS: Chicago, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, Municipal Employees' Annuity and Benefit Fund of Chicago

Rahm calls for largest property tax hike in modern Chicago history

By Ted Dabrowski

09/21/2015

Chicagoans know new revenues won’t be used to pay for better roads, classrooms or public safety – these tax hikes won’t even fix what’s ailing the city’s bottom line.

TAGS: Chicago, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, ecigs, fees, Lyft, outmigration, property taxes, Rahm Emanuel, rideshare, Uber

Four factors that created the CPS pension crisis

By Ted Dabrowski

09/08/2015

How Illinois politicians turned what was meant to provide government workers with retirement security into a political slush fund.

TAGS: Chicago, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, Rahm Emanuel

Rahm calls for the largest property tax hike in modern Chicago history

By Ted Dabrowski

09/03/2015

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel calls for property-tax hikes, garbage-collection fees and ridesharing surcharges as a stop-gap measure to plug the city’s $750 million budget hole.

TAGS: Chicago, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, fees, Rahm Emanuel

All three major credit rating agencies declare CPS bonds ‘junk’ grade

By John Klingner

08/17/2015

Another credit downgrade for the Chicago Board of Education’s debt demonstrates the urgency of immediate fiscal reforms.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools, credit rating

School’s out of options: 7 things you should know about Chicago’s teacher pension system

By Ted Dabrowski

06/25/2015

As contract negotiations heat up this summer, the facts are hard to stomach.

TAGS: budget, contract, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, education, pensions, taxes

The Chicago penalty

04/23/2015

Chicago paid a premium on its recent bond offerings. Why? Default risk.

TAGS: bonds, Chicago, Chicago Board of Education, CPS: Chicago Public Schools

Yield on Chicago Public Schools bond offering hits 5.63%, bankruptcy the sensible option

04/23/2015

Where is the school district going to get $1.1 billion? The state? Think again.

TAGS: bankruptcy, CPS: Chicago Public Schools

Illinois teacher licensing clouded by corruption, needs reform

By Anthony Trania

07/17/2014

Illinois’ public schools are in trouble. As if shuttering schools, the faltering Chicago Public Schools system and unfunded pension liabilities weren’t enough, it seems the teacher licensing system is mired in clout and corruption. A front page story from the Chicago Tribune on July 12 details findings of “nearly 100 cases in the past five...

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools

CPS: Chicago Public Schools

Chicago Public Schools debt slides deeper into ‘junk’ status

8 things to know about Chicago’s pension-reform law

Rahm calls for largest property tax hike in modern Chicago history

Four factors that created the CPS pension crisis

Rahm calls for the largest property tax hike in modern Chicago history

All three major credit rating agencies declare CPS bonds ‘junk’ grade

School’s out of options: 7 things you should know about Chicago’s teacher pension system

The Chicago penalty

Yield on Chicago Public Schools bond offering hits 5.63%, bankruptcy the sensible option

Illinois teacher licensing clouded by corruption, needs reform

Fighting poverty with employment: Chicago block clubs

Report Archive

Diana Graham

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students