No Brainer
- Mayor Richard Daley endorsed the idea Thursday of closing half-empty elementary schools, calling it "unacceptable" to keep them open even as he acknowledged it's a difficult issue that will need to be addressed at the community level.
"It's a challenge that should be discussed and addressed not for management reasons, but to do —what's right for our students and the community," Daley said. "An under-enrolled school may lack some of the programming options that a fully enrolled school can offer. . . . And a half-empty school isn't the kind of vital community anchor that a good school can be and should be."
Last month, Chicago Public Schools officials indicated that they could be closing about 50 underutilized elementary schools, mostly on the South and Near West sides, over the next five years to address declining enrollment.
The Chicago Public Schools are arguably the worst run bureaucracy in the known universe. We've made that argument here many times. Boxes and boxes of unopened text books stored away in warehouses; brand new top of the line computers gathering dust in boxes; the list is endless.
These half filled schools provide nothing but "make work" positions for the powerful janitor, building engineer and trade unions. Add in the money burned up on the parent school boards for these money pits and the redundant teaching positions that could be covered at a fully staffed school and we'd bet there's probably be plenty of money for a tax refund of sorts to the citizens of Chicago.
These half filled schools provide nothing but "make work" positions for the powerful janitor, building engineer and trade unions. Add in the money burned up on the parent school boards for these money pits and the redundant teaching positions that could be covered at a fully staffed school and we'd bet there's probably be plenty of money for a tax refund of sorts to the citizens of Chicago.
Labels: city politics
posted by SCC at 12:03 AM
23 Comments:
are they half empty ---- or are they half full ?? hmmmmmmmmm
The west side has big schools with additions under enrolled. On the NW side our kids are over crowded and all we get for our tax dollars is a mobile or classes in the halls. I love this town.
How about "J-Feeb" Anybody.....anybody...(sounds of crickets chirping) Thank you and I'll be here all week. Please tip your waitresses............
Ever since he was elected, Daley has always endorsed "up to the limit" taxes for public schools. Makes you wonder where all the money went now that many schools will be closed
use some of these empty schools for some type of in-service training for us,even tho we have zero in -service training now,j-FED might change that.
And how many unopened boxes of books or unused computers have you seen? You're so full of shit your eyes are brown.
Those empty schools could easily utilized to offset the crowded ones. Especially when it comes to the illegal alien kids. Identify each & every illegal kid send them to those schools in question& start the process of sending them back to their country of origin/ their Illegal Parents as well. A Outprocessing center/school if you will...
And how many unopened boxes of books or unused computers have you seen? You're so full of shit your eyes are brown.
Hundreds of boxes of books. We have reports from three different schools that these books sit in storage for the entire year and then after a year or two are tossed out in the trash still fully boxed. Maybe a HUGE story for some investigative reporter with the wherewithall to grease the palms for a few janitors who know the routine?
Dozens of computers. In fact, some enterprising officers where we work went to the school principals and asked if they could use a few of the computers in the police room and updated the old 386's they had to pentiums and beyond. Surfing is much faster now they tell us...and less filters.
There is no incentive to save money, so they spend spend spend. Get out from behind your desk at HQ... oh wait, J-Fed is going to make sure you do that anyway.
If you're lucky enough to land days, which we doubt, go do a few school premise checks and nose around with the building engineer.
Do you need 20,000 36" fluorescent lightbulbs? We can name 2 high schools right now where there are rooms stacked to the ceiling with lightbulbs. How about 110 overhead projectors? We aren't pulling these numbers out of thin air and not out of your ass either. We've SEEN this waste.
And the point of the article was how many jobs could be cut and money saved years ago instead of just after Daley raised taxes by $200 million.
Chicago does not have an educational system.The term school is a nice way of saying ghetto day care.
Hey. Hey thats enough hating on the Engineers and janitorial staff for the Bde of Ed. Just because you guys are stuck with the likes of FOP
Anonymous said...
And how many unopened boxes of books or unused computers have you seen? You're so full of shit your eyes are brown.
1/11/2008 08:39:00 AM
I beg to differ. My wife is a CPS principal, and this is her pet peeve, and she has seen it at her most recent school. The schools have hundreds and hundreds of extra books, computers, and other things that are not opened, not used, etc.
This is Chicago....do you really think that this would not happen..?
Maybe you should take off your rose colored glasses and see what the color of your eyes are..
Anonymous said...
Those empty schools could easily utilized to offset the crowded ones. Especially when it comes to the illegal alien kids. Identify each & every illegal kid send them to those schools in question& start the process of sending them back to their country of origin/ their Illegal Parents as well. A Outprocessing center/school if you will...
1/11/2008 08:44:00 AM
We would save millions get them out out of this shit "sanctuary city" thanks to daley and the illegal elected clowns! They trump federal law everyday by allowing these bottom feeders in to this city! lets get a bus and send them all back now! they over burden our schools,health system and police dept with shit! Fuck all the illegals put an electric fence at the border after we ship them all back, to good old shit country mexico!
The Teachers Union is a wholly owned and operated division of the local and national DemocRAT Party.
Empty the half used schools. Now ho much tax money will be saved or will Arnie he goof find some whore operation to spend it on? Also see who this property will be sold to, maybe friends of Eddie Burke or some 19 ward hacks as middle men for kinky businessmen.
FOLLOW THE MONEY.
Does this mean that the yellow buses will only need to go east and west to drop off their charges now?
"And the point of the article was how many jobs could be cut and money saved years ago instead of just after Daley raised taxes by $200 million."
Let's not forget that's on top of $500,000+ tax dollars diverted to his TIF slush funds.
TIF'S totaling $3,000,000+ since the program began and counting......
How many frickin schools did they build in the "illegal immigrant" neighborhoods? Spent tons of $. They should have bussed them to these 1/2 empty schools and saved the $. Shit, they bus these LeClaire court mongrels over to Kennedy HS so why didn't he do it elsewhere until he filled the schools. Oh I know... it would have made sense. If he did it that way his hacks wouldn't have gotten paid for their "contract" work for the new schools. Imagine the raise we could have gotten if he didn't waste away the $.
Many of these school buildings are fine, though aging, examples of classic Chicago architecture.
The fact that some are not being fully utilized reflects, in part, the changing demographics of the neighborhoods in which they are located.
What ever happened with that idea of education vouchers, as dollar for dollar state tax credits, to be used by those parents actually interested in their children getting an actual education?
Consolidate these low enrollment schools, lease out those structures not currently needed to any and all educational enterprises, offer education vouchers to parents and see how quickly these formerly half empty school fill to capacity.
Betcha none of the closed schools will be white neighborhoods.
No bullshit here, was in Gage Park H.S. for an arrest earlier this week and I notice two drums, 55 gallon cardboard ones, each full with newer looking books being taken outside the school by the janitors. We actually had to manuver our arrestee around them as they were blocking the stairs down off the loading dock. The books were not wrapped in plastic but still looked new and unused.
On a side note, they could be in that condition because those students probably never use them throughout the year, seeing we watch them at dismissal and see less than 10% carry books or a bookbag home. Somehow they are all honor students though!
News for you,the CTU and its members are not a wholly owned NEA/DemocRAT entity. I know many teachers who are voting for Ron Paul and who are conservative Republicans.
It's Ok because he will throw the alderman....I mean the failies in those wards that have a closed school, the option of going to one of the north/northwest side schools and give them free rides to get there. Back to bussing in....
"Betcha none of the closed schools will be white neighborhoods."
Why would they be?
'White' people, including 'Hispanics', 'Asians', etc., send their kids to school to learn, (not that that's gonna guarantee much of anything, these days), not merely to get free baby-sitting services.
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