by Mish Shedlock, The Maven:
The Wall Street Jounal Editorial Board blasts Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot for her deal with the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). The deal will further wreak havoc on the already insolvent school system.
Who will be hurt most?
The WSJ answers the question this way: Union Routs Students in Chicago.
Contract Details
- 16% raise over five years (not including raises based on longevity)
- Three-year freeze on health insurance premiums
- Lower insurance copays
- Caps on class sizes
- More than 450 new social workers and nurses.
- New job protections for substitute teachers who going forward may only be removed after conferring with the union about “performance deficiencies.”
- Chicago Public Schools will become a “sanctuary district,” meaning school officials won’t be allowed to cooperate with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement without a court order.
- Employees will be allowed 10 unpaid days for personal immigration matters.
- Under the new contract, a joint union-school board committee will be convened to “mitigate or eliminate any disproportionate impacts of observations or student growth measures” on teacher evaluations.
- Instead of student performance, teachers will probably be rated on more subjective measures, perhaps congeniality in the lunchroom.
- The new union contract caps the number of charter-school seats, so no new schools will be able to open without others closing.
Get the Hell Out
The WSJ commented “Michelle Obama the other day complained that white people were leaving the city to escape minorities who are moving in. No, they’re fleeing Chicago’s high taxes and lousy schools—and so are minorities.”
Chicago Public School Bond Ratings
Chart from CPS Credit Ratings.
You can kiss those positive and stable outlooks goodbye. The system is insolvent and this contract will further weaken the outlook.
Bond Rating Comparison
Chart from Wikipedia, yellow highlights mine.
S&P already has CPS bonds in the “highly” speculative area, five steps into its junk ratings.
Pension Spiking
A Chicago Teacher’s Pension is based on your years of service and a pension percentage (up to 75%), multiplied by your final average salary. Their union notes “There are ways to increase these factors to enhance your pension or meet eligibility requirements.”
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