Aldermen hand Rahm a big win. Biggest property tax increase in history hits hardest on poor.

Parents and community groups carry anti-privatization signs as they gather in front of Ald. Will Burns (4th) office Tuesday morning, demanding that Burns be replaced as Education Committee chair with someone who will not stifle fair community representation.

Remember how Rahm got elected? Along with buying $30 million worth of votes with bankster pals' money, he savaged Chuy Garcia during the campaign debate with lies about him voting for "the largest property tax increase in history"? During the first of five mayoral debates, Emanuel pulled the property tax charge out of his pocket like a trump card.

“You increased property taxes to the largest amount ever with your vote,” he told Garcia.

Today compliant aldermen will vote for Rahm's own $720 million property tax increase, truly the largest ever. The largest previous hike was Mayor Daley's which amounted to $83.4M.

The biggest payment will be due in August of next year and will hit hardest at low-income property owners, those on fixed incomes and renters. It will also include a new garbage collection fee, something Chicago has never had before.  The fee will be tacked onto water bills. So if homeowners can't or won't pay it, the city can threaten to shut off their water as they did in Detroit.

Hundreds of Southwest Side Chicagoans and students rallied Monday afternoon outside local Ald. Ed Burke's (14th) office against charter school expansion proposed for their community.

Rahm is also getting a $45M tax levy to pay mainly for new privately-run charter and selective enrollment schools.Yesterday Rahm proposed a scheme to have schools borrow money from the banks with interest paid, until the tax levy money comes through.

Rahm's brother Ari's company, Uber will be a big winner. During this morning's hearings, lots of racist comments coming from the Uber section of the gallery aimed at immigrant cabbies who were testifying against the Uber deal.

Rahm's hand-picked school board will also vote today to approve Noble charter network's plan for a new charter high school on the Southwest Side. This despite ongoing protests from neighborhood parents and community groups. Noble's original plan was to build three high schools, but they were forced to retreat after parents successfully railed against a North Side campuses proposal.

This morning, Kelly High School students walked out in protest against the new Noble charter.

Charter expansion is in full swing even though Rahm has closed 50 neighborhood schools and many charters, including Noble, are unable to fill the seats they have. Austin Business and Entrepreneurship Academy High School, for example, has only 13 registered 9th graders. Chicago International Charter School’s Larry Hawkins campus in Altgeld Gardens registered only 37 freshmen.