By Steve Rhodes

“After four months of public hearings and review, the commission charged with studying school closings in Chicago has determined the school district has enough staff and available space to pull off 80 school shake-ups, including closings and total staff overhauls known as turnarounds,” Linda Lutton reports for WBEZ.
Just yesterday, the Beachwood Bookmaking Bureau set the Over/Under for number of schools that will actually be closed at 35. That still sounds about right.

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Posted on March 7, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s push to close dozens of schools hinges on a vision of the ‘ideal’ size for kindergarten through eighth-grade classes as 30 students, far larger than is the case now in the typical Chicago classroom,” the Tribune reports.
Rahm Emanuel wants to make CPS class sizes larger.
“Setting a benchmark higher than what records indicate is reality across Chicago – and far higher than in many suburbs – indicates to some that Emanuel is willing to buck the popular notion that smaller classes produce better students who get more individual attention.”
I wonder if he’s trying to buck that notion at the University of Chicago Lab Schools where he sends his kids. (Classroom size of 23 in grades 1 through 4 – plus assistant teachers to help with the load.) He’s probably blowing up the phones of Lab administrators as we speak, haranguing them about wasting resources.

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Posted on March 6, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“Dawn Clark Netsch, an iconic Illinois political presence for more than six decades, died Tuesday morning from complications from ALS. She was 86,” Carol Marin reports.
*
Two tweets that say a lot:

Really going to miss Dawn Clark Netsch. Here’s my favorite soundbite of her on the Tax Swap.db.tt/FZqb6Xfs

— Bill Cameron (@billjcameron) March 5, 2013

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Posted on March 5, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“Of the 1,426 billionaires in the world, there are 17 in Illinois, according to the latest Forbes list,” Crain’s notes.
I have nothing funny or insightful to say about this.
Red-Handed
“Chicago’s embattled red light camera firm went to City Hall on Friday in its latest effort to come clean, acknowledging for the first time that its entire program here was likely built on a $2 million bribery scheme,” the Tribune reported over the weekend.
“By its sheer size, the alleged plot would rank among the largest in the annals of Chicago corruption.”

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Posted on March 4, 2013

By Natasha Julius

In honor of Dr. Seuss’s 109th birthday, we proudly present a Weekend Desk current events tribute. Many thanks to Larry Peterson for editing assistance.
Uncle McFester’s Magic Sequester
Uncle McFester is at it again,
Demanding we all meet his unctuous new friend
“Sequester” it’s called, the name seems to slither
And cause our economy’s new growth to wither –
Or possibly not, it depends who you ask
Since one man’s closed loophole is another man’s tax.

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Posted on March 2, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

Just a shorty today.
1. TL;DR.
So did the Sun-Times get it wrong or is Forrest Claypool full of shit?
2. Bradley Manning: The Face of Heroism.
“Manning also said he ‘first approached three news outlets: the Washington Post, New York Times and Politico‘ before approaching WikiLeaks.”

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Posted on March 1, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“President Barack Obama and his officials are doing their best to drum up public concern over the shock wave of spending cuts that could strike the government in just days. So it’s a good time to be alert for sky-is-falling hype,” AP reports.
For example:
“Education Secretary Arne Duncan says teacher layoffs have already begun, but he has not backed up that claim and school administrators say no pink slips are expected before May, for the next school year, if the budget crisis persists.

“This stuff is real,” he said last week. “Schools are already starting to give teachers notices.”

“Asked to provide backup for Duncan’s assertion, spokesman Daren Briscoe said it was based on ‘an unspecified call he was on with unnamed persons,’ and the secretary might not be comfortable sharing details.

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Posted on February 28, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“Former state Rep. Robin Kelly easily won the special Democratic primary Tuesday night in the race to replace the disgraced Jesse Jackson Jr. in Congress, helped by millions of dollars in pro-gun control ads from New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s political fund,” the Tribune reports.
“A snowstorm and lack of voter interest kept turnout low as Kelly had 52 percent to 25 percent for former U.S. Rep. Debbie Halvorson and 11 percent for Chicago 9th Ward Ald. Anthony Beale with 99 percent of precincts counted.”
While others were calling Halvorson, Donne Trotter, Toi Hutchinson and even Mel Reynolds the favorite at the outset of this race, the Beachwood continued its stellar run as a superior pundit machine by tabbing Kelly early and often. Yay, us.

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Posted on February 27, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

I don’t think anyone believes this poll. Rod McCulloch isn’t exactly the most respected pollster in the business, and I haven’t found the methodology anywhere.
At least this post noted that “In yet another poll by We Ask America, reported Saturday by Fox Chicago, Kelly had an overwhelming lead over Halvorson- 37 percent to 19 percent – so recent polling in the race have varied significantly.”
Not really. The McCulloch poll is the outlier, as it so often is, and I would have ignored it completely if not for the NBC Chicago post.

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Posted on February 26, 2013

By Steve Rhodes

“Savings from cuts to the Illinois Medicaid program have fallen short by $464 million, about 30 percent of the expected $1.6 billion in projected savings that Gov. Pat Quinn pushed for last year,” AP reported last week.
“In the first public report on how cuts to the health care safety-net program are being carried out, Illinois Department of Healthcare and Family Services Director Julie Hamos detailed the actual savings of cost-cutting measures so far. Hamos reported to the House Human Services Appropriation Committee on Thursday in Springfield.”
Boldface mine.

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Posted on February 25, 2013