Blaine Principal Troy LaRaviere is my early choice for a mayoral run in the next election go-round. He's got the right stuff.
Troy has another hard-hitting commentary ("Why does Rahm Emanuel put business ahead of our children?") in yesterday's Tribune.
He writes:
Politicians frame this as pension payment vs. classroom investment — as if those were the only two expenses our tax dollars are used for and one of them has to be sacrificed. This is patently false. City Hall has had many opportunities for sacrifice in other areas, but it has refused to make those sacrifices.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel had a chance to sacrifice the diversion of $55 million in taxes to a hotel near McCormick Place. He could have invested some of that tax increment financing money in the pension system instead.
Emanuel had a chance to sacrifice his relationship with the banking community by suing the banks that are siphoning $100 million from CPS as a result of toxic financial deals brokered by his hand-picked CPS board president, David Vitale. Emanuel has refused to try to recoup these dollars, which he could invest in the pension system.
Aramark Corp. and SodexoMAGIC Corp. failed to keep CPS schools clean, but Emanuel and CPS would not sacrifice their relationship with those companies by voiding their $340 million in contracts. Some of that money could have been invested in the pension system.
Emanuel's appointed school board gave SUPES Academy $20 million to provide "training" that I believe was poor in quality and completely unresponsive to the district's professional development needs. That money could have been invested in the pension system.
City Hall, with such a blatant history of being unwilling to make well-connected and powerful bankers and businessmen sacrifice, has the audacity to announce that it has no choice but to make children sacrifice their education.Read the entire commentary here.
Troy LaRaviere couldn't have stated the hypocrisy, the corruption, and criminal fraud against our children and teachers in more graphic terms.
ReplyDeleteKarl
Can't read it - the Trib wants my money first. A shame.
ReplyDeleteTurtle,
DeleteBest I can do here.
Commentary: Why does Rahm Emanuel put business ahead
of our children?
By Troy LaRaviere
JULY 7, 2015, 1:18 PM
I
am a principal in Chicago Public Schools. A reporter called me recently and asked what the impact of CPS'
proposed 1,400 job cuts would be on my school, Blaine Elementary. I could not answer without seeing a
specific budget, but the cuts will chip away at the quality of CPS schools.
There are nonnegotiable budget requirements just to get a school to the point of being functional, such as teachers
in classrooms, an administrative team, basic curriculum and supplies.
However — as I understand it — we do not want to stop at just being functional. We want to be effective. We want
to be excellent.
For that to happen, we need early athome interventions for preschoolage children from lowincome households,
smaller studenttoteacher ratios, thoughtful training for teachers, a competitive compensation and benefits
package to attract skilled professionals. We need a rich arts curriculum, exceptional educators whose efforts are
focused on the children who come to us less prepared than their peers, a rigorous curriculum tailored to local
student needs and the thoughtful use of technology in schools.
The 2013 budget cuts meant that many of our students lost some of those things — the resources that move a
school from being functional to being excellent. The 2015 budget cuts will mean that my students — and students
across Chicago — will lose even more.
Politicians frame this as pension payment vs. classroom investment — as if those were the only two expenses our
tax dollars are used for and one of them has to be sacrificed. This is patently false. City Hall has had many
opportunities for sacrifice in other areas, but it has refused to make those sacrifices.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel had a chance to sacrifice the diversion of $55 million in taxes to a hotel near McCormick
Place. He could have invested some of that tax increment financing money in the pension system instead.
Emanuel had a chance to sacrifice his relationship with the banking community by suing the banks that are
siphoning $100 million from CPS as a result of toxic financial deals brokered by his handpicked CPS board
president, David Vitale. Emanuel has refused to try to recoup these dollars, which he could invest in the pension
system.
Aramark Corp. and SodexoMAGIC Corp. failed to keep CPS schools clean, but Emanuel and CPS would not
sacrifice their relationship with those companies by voiding their $340 million in contracts. Some of that money
could have been invested in the pension system.
Emanuel's appointed school board gave SUPES Academy $20 million to provide "training" thatI believe was poor
in quality and completely unresponsive to the district's professional development needs. That money could have
been invested in the pension system.
7/9/2015 Why does Rahm Emanuel put business ahead of our children? Chicago Tribune
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/opinion/commentary/ctcpslayoffsschoolsblaineperspec061220150707story.html 2/8
Copyright © 2015, Chicago Tribune
City Hall, with such a blatant history of being unwilling to make wellconnected and powerful bankers and
businessmen sacrifice, has the audacity to announce that it has no choice but to make children sacrifice their
education.
This mayor is like a man who just bought a sports car, an entertainment center and a vacation home, and then
tells his children they'll have to sacrifice on clothing because he has to pay their grocery bill.
Emanuel says one thing, but his behavior says another. He has put investor profits over investing in our teachers
and their classrooms.
He wants us to get used to that. I will never get used to that.
And neither should you.
Troy LaRaviere is the principal of Blaine Elementary S
Rahm won the election by a landslide,the media was in love with the campaign cash and never asked tough questions and belittled Garcia and prior to that other candidates. Now we pay the price and CPS will truly suffer. They are pawns in the game, the billions in pension assets will keep Rahm and his banking friends fed for years. Too late. Nice blog post but too late.
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