I had meant to post on this earlier. The Chicago Teacher’s Union has voted to authorize a strike. The Chicago Tribune reports:
Chicago Teachers Union members have voted by a huge margin to authorize a strike, setting the stage for about 25,000 educators to walk off the job as early as Oct. 7.
Though an actual strike remains uncertain, Thursday’s vote results mark a big step toward what would be the first teacher walkout in Chicago Public Schools since 2012 — not counting a one-day labor action in 2016 — and represents a major challenge for Mayor Lori Lightfoot early in her first term in office.
The earliest date on which the teachers could walk out is October 7.
It’s not entirely clear to me what the teachers want. The city has already offered a 16%—generous is not extravagant. How much is that in money? It means that the average wage for Chicago teachers would be $95,000 (for a nine month year). The other factors that have been mentioned (like class size and resources) are not ones for which the teachers may strike by law.
If the CTU goes out on strike it will be the second consecutive mayoral administration in which this has happened. The CTU last struck in 2012, about a year after Rahm Emanuel took office. It makes you wonder if they’re not showing Mayor Lightfoot who the boss is.
I’d offer them bigger pensions down the road in lieu of wage increases.
“https://www.zerohedge.com/personal-finance/debt-bombs-here-are-states-most-debtâ€
The ten most financially unsound states are a murderers row of those where people are fleeing. Only KY and LA are not Democrat. I actually spent most of the month of September in IL. It was enlightening. You hear about the financial issues from media and residents here and there. It’s pervasive, and so unlike FL. I also heard, but do not know, that it’s actually illegal to float muni bonds for the operating, vs capital, budget, which is what they did about two years ago.
As one wag noted, “yeah, they included a public pool in the uses of funds. Presto.â€
It’s not a fluke that most of the best, business-friendly states and cities are run under Republican governance. And, conversely the worst run areas of the country are Democrat- controlled.
And I’ve heard said it’s because Democrats really care about people, but Republicans only care about money.
There hasn’t really been anyone since Reagan who could cheerfully refute that argument.
But there’s hope. Although he’s said he would never consider running for President until his kids are grown, Ben Sass , at 47, still has time.
https://youtu.be/kqWaXB5yxcI