Progress Illinois

GOP gubernatorial nominee Bill Brady has made clear school won't be exempt from his budget ax if he's elected governor. To make up for the lost revenue, the Republican mentioned to supporters yesterday that "school districts could absorb that by maybe not offering the pay raises that they put in place."

While it may seem intuitive and reasonable at first glance to ask teachers to forgo pay bumps , Brady's line of argument contains a few flaws. For starters, each district has its own contract that contains different terms, meaning there is no blanket raise that all teachers are receiving. Indeed, teachers in several big districts have already agreed to keep salaries flat until tax revenues perk back up. On top of that, competitive teacher salaries should be a priority for the state, especially when lawmakers in Springfield are reducing the retirement benefits for future employees. We want the most talented people available entering the profession.

The big problem facing strapped districts is that the state systemically underfunds education and can't pay districts cash they are owed on time and in full. Brady claims that school districts could better plan their budgets if he's elected because, in the words of reporter Mike Riopell, "they would actually get what’s promised." Of course, until the state senator actually releases a budget plan, nobody has any idea whether school districts will have a reliable funding source under a hypothetical Brady administration. It makes it tough to take these suggestions seriously.

That's the percentage of students in Illinois who now qualify for free or reduced-priced meals at school. Since 2003, that figure has jumped 24 percent. To qualify for one of those two options, children must come from families with incomes at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level. For a family of four, that's just $40,792 per year.

The Chicago Teachers' Union continues to battle with Chicago Public Schools about staffing levels, classroom sizes and tenured teachers. Since late June, 1,322 teachers have been laid off, according to a press release CTU issued today, and the union estimates just 167 of those fired may be called back to the classroom. Liz Brown, a union spokeswoman, said the $106 million in federal aid CPS now has available could hire up to 1,000 positions. She said CTU will thus be monitoring future hires at the district closely and the press release anticipated a "class action grievance" about hiring. The Board of Education passed a $5.3 billion budget earlier this week. 

The union has been demanding fired veteran teachers be brought back before any new hires are made for some time now. Earlier this month, CTU sued over the issue, alleging CPS was violating fired teachers' due process rights. Karen Lewis, the union president, hit that theme today, saying in the statement that parents should be "outraged" by the loss of tenured teachers. She went on:

Without tenured teachers, students are at increased risk.  Tenured teachers strongly advocate for students’ legal right to full services, such as those for special needs students and English language learners. Tenured teachers enforce class size limits, safety and student discipline matters. Tenured teachers review the school’s budget to ensure the money goes to students in the classroom. 

While CPS said the federal money would "restore" the average high school classroom size to 31 students, the union noted the contractually obligated maximum is 28.