Category Archives: Illinois Pensions
Northern Illinois Hiring Practices and Expenditures Questioned
An Office of Executive Inspector General investigation into Northern Illinois University’s hiring and spending practices has found that President Doug Baker routinely circumvented state laws and regulations to reward friends and associates. The report, commissioned after watchdog groups and whistleblowers … Continue reading
Budget Battle Continues in Springfield
You’ll recall that the governor campaigned on the idea of raising the income tax a bit (he never really said by how much) and then rolling it all the way back to 3 percent by the end of his first … Continue reading
Maybe It’s Time To Discuss the Consolidation of the Norwood Park Township Grammar Schools(SD79,SD80,SD86)
The word of the week is “consolidation”; so lets think about consolidation of the three grammar school districts in Norwood Park Township into one grammar school District. A day does not go by that there is some news regarding the … Continue reading
Why Schools Resist Consolidating —-There are financial and educational benefits to merging small school districts, yet it’s almost always a hard sell.
No great surprise here: A recent audit in New Jersey recommended that the state move forward with school district consolidation efforts. While New Jersey has already merged several school districts, it still has some 545 of them, more than many … Continue reading
Illinois Has Too Many School Districts
From 1930 through 1970, a gradual consolidation process eliminated 9 of every 10 school districts nationally. The number of districts in the U.S. fell dramatically, to fewer than 20,000 from over 120,000. Illinois followed similar trends. In 1942, Illinois had … Continue reading
Interesting Editorial in the Pantograph To Think About
Pantograph Editorial: Illinois needs to push harder for school consolidationMay 1, 2016 One of the maddening aspects of the state’s ongoing financial crisis is that some obvious long-term solutions are rarely considered. As we’ve stated before, one solution to the … Continue reading
Ald. Ameya Pawar Throws First Official Hat in Democratic Ring for Illinois Governor
For a sitting, massively rich Republican governor who just added $50 million in personal cash to his re-election campaign, a sitting Chicago alderman with a measly $50,000 probably doesn’t seem much of a threat.And perhaps pro-business, union-critic Governor Bruce Rauner … Continue reading
Is Illinois Going to Have A Budget Soon ?
A plan to end a two-year Illinois budget standoff negotiated in the Senate — which likely includes an income tax increase as well as items on Gov. Bruce Rauner’s agenda — could get a vote in Springfield as early as … Continue reading
Can Illinois Have A Budget Deal without Madigan ?
Possible budget deal in the Illinois Senate announced this afternoon. But where is the Illinois House and Mike Madigan? Details remain fluid, but the Senate began moving multiple pieces of legislation Monday that include an increase in the income … Continue reading →