Chicago Public Schools sales bonds to keep doors open

The Chicago Teachers Union headed up by Karen Lewis said that the Chicago Public Schools’ Tuesday announcement to cut $100 million in spending and staff, was an attempt to bully teachers after the union rejected a contract offer. In return, the teachers would pay their entire 9 percent pension contribution, including the 7 percent the district agreed decades ago to fund. Which means that long-time teachers will start paying 3.5 percent more toward their pension starting in July and then the entire 7 percent as of July 2017. The proposal included pay raises and job security, but union officials said it didn’t address school conditions or a lack of services. The deal had been…

“We are demanding that Bank of America act as a good corporate citizen and deal fairly with our schools and city”, Brunson said outside the bank, according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The nation’s third-largest public school system has become dependent on borrowing to bolster its budget, which is sinking under escalating pension payments, despite credit ratings that have dropped into the “junk” level. “Most importantly, we encourage supporters of public education to take the same action at this bank and other banks profiting from the toxic interest rate swaps”.

District officials said “drastic” steps were necessary.

The Chicago Teachers Union is angrily criticizing the school board for its latest budget cuts. “Borrowing money was never a decision that we took lightly and though some wanted our efforts to fail, CPS needed to move forward in order to keep our doors open so we could educate our children”, said Ron DeNard, CPS VP for finance. The legislators also want to give the district the opportunity to claim bankruptcy.

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner criticized the sale, saying the district and Chicago’s mayor have again “kicked the can” down the road. The balance sheet is stunningly bad.