Chicago Public Schools

CTU’s answer for failing schools: Blame the ‘fat cats’

By Paul Kersey
12/29/2012
It is a fairly standard piece of Alinskyite strategy: make the argument about personalities rather than principles or results. Find an enemy and make the whole fight about him or her or it. As progressive icon and “Rules for Radicals” author Saul Alinsky himself put it, “pick the target, freeze it, personalize it and polarize...

Bringing it all together: what Right to Work means for Michigan and its workers

By Paul Kersey
12/13/2012
On Tuesday Michigan’s Legislature took the final steps in passing Right-to-Work legislation, and Gov. Rick Snyder signed the bill into law. Outside the Statehouse, union protesters became more agitated, tearing down a tent where Right-to-Work supporters had gathered (a handful of people were almost trapped inside the canvas) and assaulting a Fox News correspondent. In...

Twinkies, Ho Hos and the future of Illinois state pensions

By Ted Dabrowski
11/20/2012
If Illinoisans want a glimpse of the state’s upcoming fiscal cliff, they should look no further than the failed negotiations between the maker of Twinkies and the unions that took them on. Hostess Brand’s bankruptcy is much more than the demise of famous brands like Twinkies, Ho Hos and Wonder Bread. It’s also the tragedy...

The backdoor CPS bailout

11/16/2012
Chicago Public Schools cannot erase its $1 billion budget deficit alone – it’s going to need some help. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the school board know the situation is dire. This is why they have proposed closing 120 schools next year, a move that could save $500,000 to $800,000 per school closed. But, to...