By Steve Rhodes

“Mayor Rahm Emanuel once again tried to write “the next chapter” for Chicago Public Schools on Thursday, this time turning to a trusted ally and political insider he hopes can repair the damaged district,” the Tribune reports.
Okay, so the Tribune just adopted Rahm’s “next chapter” spin at the same time it passively references a damaged district without saying who damaged it – Rahm Emanuel.
More accurate: “Rahm Emanuel turned Thursday to a trusted ally and political insider he hopes can clean up the mess the mayor has made at the Chicago Public Schools.”
Any less objective?

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Posted on July 17, 2015

By Steve Rhodes

Everyone is reporting that Rahm Emanuel has tapped apparatchik par excellence Forrest Claypool to become the next CEO of CPS.
Wow.
That says to me that Rahm simply couldn’t find anyone else to take the job. Or maybe he didn’t want to risk conducting a national search and bringing someone in – or promoting someone from within, but who’s left what with Barbara Byrd-Bennett’s kitchen cabinet disappeared – and finding in a few months that he had struck out for a third time.
I can’t imagine Claypool is in it for the long haul; maybe he’s just supposed to get the city through contract negotiations with the teachers’ union and the pension and budget mess before stepping aside to, I don’t know, run the Department of Aviation or something.
Which just adds up to more chaos for CPS; let’s face it, Rahm has really made a hash of the place.
It would be interesting to know Rahm’s reasoning – I doubt we’ll get sincere answers – in going from an experienced if out-of-his-depth and not entirely honest educator/superintendent in Jean Claude-Brizard to experienced educator cum grim reaper extraordinaire Barbara Byrd-Bennett to public payroll dilettante/fixer Claypool, whose resume includes various positions for Richard M. Daley, a showy term on the Cook County board, stints running the CTA and park district, and in-between tours of duty as a mayoral chief of staff.
Now Claypool is being called upon to clean up a mess made by a mayor who just got re-elected and finds himself having to gut his schools leadership.
I said it then and I’ll say it now: The case against Rahm should have rested as much on competence as elitism. Before becoming mayor, he had never been a chief executive and never exhibited chief executive abilities. He’s an operator, a legislator (of sorts), a hack, dealmaker, a fundraiser, but not a leader.
And for someone who has spent more than four years telling us how important the city’s kids are, he sure has mucked up their education and paralyzed the system they (and their parents) depend on.
Let’s take a look at the coverage.

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Posted on July 16, 2015

By Steve Rhodes

“Investment banks this spring paid $2 million to the city of Houston to settle claims they did not sufficiently warn city officials about the risks of the auction-rate bond market – the latest in a series of awards to governments damaged by auction-rate losses,” the Tribune reports.
“No such award is coming to the Chicago Public Schools, even though CPS issued more auction-rate securities than any other school district in the country and more than most major cities. CPS did not file a claim with the relevant arbitration panel during its six-year eligibility period, a time span that included several years of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s tenure.
“It’s not clear why the cash-strapped district decided not to pursue a claim – or even whether there was a decision at all. Under questioning from the Tribune, school officials acknowledged that they don’t know whether CPS ever explored the option of filing a claim over its auction-rate losses. A Tribune series last year estimated those losses at roughly $100 million over the life of the deals.”

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Posted on July 15, 2015

By Steve Rhodes

“Taste of Chicago attendance dipped this summer compared with the last time it was a five-day event, according to city estimates released late Monday after the annual lakefront food carnival wrapped up,” the Tribune reports.
“Roughly 1.4 million people walked through the gates at Grant Park between Wednesday and Sunday, according to the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs and Special Events. That’s down slightly from 1.5 million who attended in 2013 . . .
“Recent Taste crowds pale in comparison to its pinnacle. In 2008, when the 10-day fest hosted Stevie Wonder among its headliners, the Illinois Restaurant Association estimated 3.5 million people attended throughout the run.”

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Posted on July 14, 2015

By Steve Rhodes

In case you missed it:
* The Beachwood Radio Hour #61A: Grateful Dead Edition.
Let there be ungentrified songs to fill the air: What the media and David Axelrod get wrong.
* The Beachwood Radio Hour #61B: Beachwood Does Tinder.
Like or Nope? Plus: Covering Chicago Violence In The Worst Possible Way; Really Reassessing Obama’s Legacy; and Beachwood Funnies.

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Posted on July 13, 2015

By Steve Rhodes

The Papers will return on Monday, July 13. I need some “me” time.
In the meantime, I’ll still be posting occasionally to our other sections.
I’ll still be active on the Beachwood’s Facebook and Twitter feeds.
I also hope to do some bonus podcasting along the way.
And if any of my get-rich-quick schemes come to pass in the next six days, well, see ya, suckers!

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Posted on July 7, 2015

By Steve Rhodes

1. Englewood Residents Hold Independence Day Weekend Vigil vs. Thousands Line Route For Arlington Heights 4th Of July Parade.
Relevant: How The U.S. Government And White People Segregated Neighborhoods, Towns.
P.S.: Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner chose to attend the Arlington Heights parade.

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Posted on July 4, 2015

By Steve Rhodes

1. Beachwood Radio: Don’t Blame McCarthy For Rahm’s Policies.
The real case against the Chicago police chief. Plus: Bracing For Holiday Weekend Reporting; Here We Go Again With The National Guard; Boykin’s Bullshit; and The FBI-CNN Joint Task Force For Fear-Mongering.

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Posted on July 3, 2015

By Steve Rhodes

“Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Wednesday detailed the fallout he attributes to Chicago Public Schools making good on a $634 million pension payment: 1,050 workers will lose their jobs, 350 vacant positions will be eliminated and several education programs will be slashed as a result of $200 million in budget cuts,” the Tribune reports.
“Emanuel also proposed a $175 million property tax increase to help pay for teacher pensions – but only if the state and Chicago’s teachers chip in as part of what the mayor described as a ‘grand bargain’ to put an end to the district’s perennial money woes.”
I’m not sure that’s either grand or a bargain, but let’s continue.

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Posted on July 2, 2015

By Steve Rhodes

“The interim CEO of Chicago Public Schools said Tuesday 1,400 jobs will be ‘impacted’ after Illinois lawmakers failed to provide relief and the financially struggling district had to borrow money to make a $634 million contribution to its teacher pension funds,” AP reports.
“Jesse Ruiz said in a statement that CPS must make $200 million in cuts, and he blamed Illinois lawmakers for ‘driving the district further into debt.’ Mayor Rahm Emanuel, speaking at a news conference earlier in the day, described the nation’s third-largest district as being at ‘a breaking point.’

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Posted on July 1, 2015