Closing mental health clinics actually helped patients, claims Rahm's health chief

Dr. Morita

This may surprise you.

I know it will surprise many of the mentally-ill former patients I see wandering our neighborhood streets all day and sleeping under the expressway at night. Mayor Rahm Emanuel's closing of our local mental health clinic as well as more than half the clinics around the city, actually helped the mentally ill. That's right, less is more claims the mayor's public health commish, Dr. Julie Morita in today's Tribune.

“Since then there has been a lot of discussion of the attribution of social ills to the consolidation of the clinics. What we know now … is that because we were able to focus in and provide, we weren’t putting out fires at the 12 clinics, we were actually able to think strategically about what is the mental health system in the city of Chicago?” Morita said.

Isn't it clear? Fewer clinics, fewer fires to put out. Makes sense I suppose, if you're running the fire department. 

Protests against the closings rocked City Hall

And as for all of us who protested the closings (I can still remember Rahm screaming at the protesting public health activists, "You're gonna respect me!") and are still carping about them six years later, well we obviously just failed to see the beauty in the closings of clinics and schools and other public services. Yes, if you squint your eyes a little, austerity is a beautiful thing.  

One of those who fail to see the light is our alderman, Scott Waguespack.

“If you look at what we were asking in the budget the next year, it was essentially, ‘Where did all those people go, and where’s the data to show they made it to another clinic?’” Waguespack said. “So this was a cost-saving measure, a lot of those people ended up on the streets and I have to disagree this was just (a situation where) everybody made it to somewhere else and everybody was A-OK where they ended up.”

More from the Trib:

It’s been an ongoing fight for years. Emanuel closed six city-run clinics with employees who were AFSCME members and instead contracted with four private organizations to provide some of the services. A seventh city clinic later closed as well. The city continues to operate five mental health clinics.

So you see, Dr. Morita is right. The closings were a win-win. The mayor got rid of union jobs and the patients were liberated from their local clinic and are now free to find transportation across town to try and get the help they need from clinicians who are paid less, work longer hours and who are perfect strangers. 

Thank you, Mr. Mayor and Dr. Morita. Don't know why it took me so long to appreciate your brilliance. 

If Rahm intended to run for re-election on CPS progress, his campaign may be over before it's begun

Rahm Emanuel is beginning to look like a politician whose re-election campaign may be on the brink of collapse before it's even officially begun. His political achilles heel surprisingly turns out to be his autocratic control over Chicago Public Schools. Most everyone thought his greatest vulnerability would be his cover-up of the Laquan McDonald police killing.

What should have been his strong suit, running as an "education mayor," is now buried in a volcanic lava flow of school privatization, corruption, inequality, and dysfunction.

His new schools CEO, Janice Jackson, the fifth CEO in six years, has gone from looking like a source of hope for change, to being little more than Rahm's political functionary, in just a few months, even fronting for the mayor in commercials touting the progress at CPS, bankrolled by a nonprofit with close ties to MRE.

Instead of talking about alleged increases in standardized test scores and graduation rates, the mayor could spend the next eight months leading up to the election dodging questions about the mountain of scandals piling up at CPS.

These include hundreds of recently revealed cases of sexual assault and abuse of students over the past decade, cases that were ignored or covered up by CPS' law department and the mayor.

My alderman, Scott Waguespack (32nd), put it bluntly:

“This is about more than politics, it’s a core issue of our humanity. We’re calling for a City Council hearing on what the Tribune found. Every alderman should be demanding to have CPS there and the mayor’s people, too. He’s the boss. Emanuel is the mayor.”

Then there's new reports of mountains of filth and vermin in the schools since custodial services were privatized by Rahm and former CEO Forrest Claypool, who resigned in December after being charged with "ethics violations."

The Sun-Times reports that SodexoMAGIC and Aramark Corporation have received nearly $800 million in contracts to privatize school engineers and custodians and bust their union. Coincidentally, SodexoMAGIC made an extraordinary campaign contribution of $250,000 to Emanuel. And Aramark has charged CPS with over $20 million in cost overruns.

U of C Lab School fired Aramark over mouse droppings

Chicago Public Schools officials have now agreed to give $259 million in additional work to Aramark. They will be handed control of all facilities work at most of Chicago’s schools on July 1, according to its contract, which CPS officials tried to keep under wraps.

The irony of all this is that the University of Chicago Lab School, the expensive private school where elites like the mayor and former Ed Sec. Arne Duncan send their kids, just gave Aramark the boot after finding mice droppings in school food. Looks like mouse poop is only OK for other people's children.

There's more, so much more, including pay-to-play scandals involving Rahm's hand-picked board members like Deborah Quazzo, who colluded with former CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett, now doing time in prison, to enrich herself at the expense of the schools.

If Rahm had any intentions of building his campaign on his running of CPS, it's looking more and more like his campaign is over before it's begun.

THANKS

We're taking the day off to recover from last night's turkey fest. But if you missed last week's show with in-studio guest Fritz Kaegi, it's re-running this morning at 11 a.m. CT on WLPN FM 105.5 in Chicago, streaming wherever you are at www.lumpenradio.com.  We will return to the airwaves next Friday, Dec. 1st, same time, same station.

Local holiday thanks go out to...
State's Attorney Kim Foxx whose first year uin office ended on a high note, including the release of two black men serving life sentences for a 1994 rape and murder, set free based on DNA evidence that links the crime to another suspect. In other words, Nevest Coleman and Derrell Fulton, doing life life in prison, were obviously framed for the 1994 murder of Antwinica Bridgeman and served 23 years when a fresh round of DNA testing this spring showed semen stains on Bridgeman's clothing matched a serial rapist.

Foxx should credited with the release of Jose Maysonet, and Arthur Brown, who have served 29 years after being falsely convicted and the exoneration of 15 men, en masse, who had 18 convictions between them - all tainted by crooked cop Ronald Watts and his officers who terrorized residents of the Ida B. Wells public housing complex for years before they were caught by federal agents.

Thanks also to Alds. Scott Waguespack (32nd), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th), and John Arena (45th) the only three aldermen who had spine enough to stand up to "Mayor 1%", Rahm Emanuel and vote no on his budget.

Ald. Ramirez-Rosa: "It is time we demand that the rich and wealthy elite of this city pay their fair share. We can and should reinstate the corporate head tax, enact substantive TIF reform, implement a commercial lease tax, and create a municipal bank."

Ald. Waguespack: And yet, again through this year's budget, the Emanuel administration adds to the load of regressive fines, fees and taxes that working families must bear. We cannot in good conscience vote to advance this irresponsible approach." .

And thanks in advance to groper/assaulter, Al Franken, for voluntarily stepping aside and allowing MN Gov. Mark Dayton to replace you with another Democrat, hopefully a woman or even a real progressive like Keith Ellison. Yes thank you for saving the party from humiliating defeats in 2018 and allowing fellow Dems to speak out on women's issues in Congress without being rightfully  ridiculed. 

In case you need more reasons, consider recent polls and let me remind you of the fact that you used your super-delegate vote at the 2016 convention in Philly to override the votes and voices of Minnesotans who wanted Bernie Sanders as their candidate. 

Thanks and don't let the door hit you on the way out. 

I think Democrats have underestimated how seriously voters are taking the Franken allegations and how hypocritical it makes them look. https://t.co/fw3xSIz59G

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 22, 2017

KSTP/SURVEYUSA: Just 22 percent say Sen. Franken should remain in office. 33% say he should resign...36% wait for results of Senate Ethics Committee. His approval rating in MN now just 36%, only 5 points higher than President Trump. pic.twitter.com/eHXI5CBFiq

— Tom Hauser (@thauserkstp) November 22, 2017

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Saying "no" to school vouchers on Friday's Hitting Left radio were parent activists Wendy Katten and Cassie Creswell along with a group of Chicago high school youth organizers. Listen in here. 

32nd Ward Ald. Scott Waguespack

 "No self-respecting Democrat should accept this brazen Rauner-Trump-DeVos tactic to decimate public schools, rob our children's classrooms of resources and weaken teachers' unions." -- DNAInfo

State Rep. Will Guzzardi

 "Giving rich people a tax loophole for driving students out of public schools and into private schools goes against many of my core beliefs." -- DNAInfo

State Sen. Daniel Biss

 “The private school voucher program doesn’t help create a more equitable education system—it’s a false choice, and just the latest example of Rauner putting millionaires over the middle class." -- Capitol Fax 

47th Ald. Ameya Pawar

 “It is dead wrong to give vouchers and tax credits to private or parochial schools. Using taxpayer money to fund private schools benefits the children of wealthy families at the expense of the rest of the state.” -- Capitol Fax

Rex Tillerson

 'The president speaks for himself'. -- Guardian

Editorial Observer Elizabeth Williamson

Mr. Trump’s staff can’t control him, so they coddle him. They make sure he starts his day with a packet of good news about himself, compiled by Republicans who get up early to search for positive stories, headlines, tweets or, failing those, flattering photos. “Maybe it’s good for the country that the president is in a good mood in the morning,” one of the Republicans said. -- NYT Sunday Review

I am pleased to inform you that I have just granted a full Pardon to 85 year old American patriot Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He kept Arizona safe!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2017

I will be voting against any school funding bill that contains a tax break for private scholarship donations. #twill

— Will Guzzardi 🖇 (@WillGuzzardi) August 25, 2017

TOMORROW ON HITTING LEFT

Tomorrow on Hitting Left, I will be missing my co-host, brother Fred, who is off to New York where he's taking part in a 40-mile bike run across the boroughs. I know, right?

But joining me will be three of my favorite people, Harish Patel, Anne Emerson, and Ald. Scott Waguespack. Not too shabby.

Harish will be my co-host and my Klonsky brother for the day. He's an Indian-American, Muslim local and international social activist based in Chicago, a former candidate for state rep and the deputy director of the non-partisan policy group New America Chicago. I'm sure we will be hearing about his recent up-close and personal exchange last week with Barack Obama.

The two of us will be digging political dirt with Chicago political strategist Anne Emerson and the alderman from my own 32nd Ward, Scott Waguespack. Scott is an outspoken member of the city council's Progressive Caucus and a major thorn in side of Mayor 1%.

A stunning victory...We'll also hear from SEIU organizer Larry Alcoff on today's victory for Chicago's nursing home health care workers. At the 11th hour, just before what would have been the largest strike by nursing home health care workers in the U.S., a settlement was reached between the management of 103 nursing homes across the Chicago area and 10,000 SEIU members. Tune in and hear Larry and Brother Fred talk about the significance of this important labor struggle.

Obama to Patel...

Mr. Obama wanted to know why Harish Patel, a graduate of the University of Illinois at Chicago, had chosen to run for state representative last year as a young man. The answer, he replied, was in part that he did not see very many Patels in office and wanted to fix that. 

“There are lot of Patels in India,” Mr. Obama interjected, prompting more laughter from the audience. “There are lot more Patels than there are Obamas."

So tune in to hear the Klonsky Bros. Hitting Left on Friday at 11 a.m. CDT, on WLPN 105.5 F.M., streaming live at Lumpen Radio. If you have an IPhone, download the Lumpen Radio app. If you miss the show live, you can always listen to the podcast 

Tour de Fork shows signs of political realignment in Chicago

The Progressive Caucus Tour de Fork fundraiser last night at the kitschy Catalyst Ranch in the West Loop was an impressive event, catered by restaurants from some of the 11 wards represented by Caucus members. But the large, spirited gathering was much more than a gastronomic success. It also signified the sea change taking place in city, state and national political alignments, thanks mainly to the emergence of Gov. Rauner as our own local version of Donald Trump.

There are now 11 caucus members, instead of 8 a year ago. This growth is testimony not only to the progressive movement's recent election victories out in the wards, but to the rapid and near-total collapse of Rahm Emanuel's political machinery and personal credibility.

In the wake of the school closings and the Laquan McDonald scandal, the mayor's approval ratings are somewhere down in the 20s, and in the single digits in the black community where voters were largely responsible for Emanuel's previous two election victories over the progressive opposition.

Rahm has lost so much juice that both Democratic Party presidential candidates avoid him like the plague when they campaign in Chicago. Liberal icon Bill Moyers is now calling on Hillary Clinton to press for the resignations of both Rahm Emanuel and DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman-Schultz in order to "do their party and country a service."

Moyers and Michael Winship write:

And now he’s mayor of Chicago, reelected last April for a second term, but, as historian Rick Pearlstein wrote in The New Yorker a couple of months ago, “Chicagoans — and Democrats nationally — are suffering buyer’s remorse.”

 To millions, they are enablers of the one percent, perpetuators of the Washington mentality that the rest of the country has grown to hate. What a message such servants of plutocracy send: Democrats — a bridge to the past.

Alds. Munoz, Foulkes, and Sposato at Tour de Fork

Just as the Bernie Sanders campaign, combined with the existential threat of Trump presidency, has pushed the Democratic Party's campaign rhetoric leftward, the Rauner-inspired realignment in Illinois has brought some strange bedfellows together here in Chicago around an emerging progressive and pro-labor policy agenda.

Last night, veteran Caucus leaders like Alds. Scott Waguespack, Leslie Hairston, Rod Sawyer and Rick Munoz shared tacos and chicken wings with newly-elected Democratic-backed State's Atty. Kim Foxx, State Senator Omar Aquino, Rep.  Jaime Andrade,  City Treasurer Kurt Summers, City Clerk Susana Mendoza, Committeeman Aaron Goldstein, reps from the CTU, SEIU, AFSCME, and more.

Tactical alliances and overlap of interests between the progressives and the council's Black and Hispanic Caucuses could well decide the next mayor's race. Note that yesterday's Black Caucus press conference demanding greater input into the selection of the next police superintendent drew progressive support. Ald. Sawyer plays a leadership role in both caucuses.

New State's Atty. Kim Foxx speaks to Caucus supporters

I joked with some, standing in the taco line, that I half expected Rauner nemesis Mike Madigan himself to come walking through the door singing "we shall overcome".

The new political alignment in the city and the shifting boundaries around the word "progressive" may cost some Caucus desertions and precipitate new internal struggles within the ranks of union leadership. But it is more likely to liberate some pols held captive on the machine's plantation in the same way the Harold Washington movement liberated them back in the day.

It's the season of the progressives. And that's a good thing. Right?

See Ben Joravsky's latest Reader piece for another view of the realignment.

Tuesday questions... What? A tangled Webb?

Dan Webb

1) Will Rahm's pet aldermen finally find their backbones? 

"On Monday, that new era of independence was on full display", writes Fran Spielman in the Sun-Times, 

I don't buy Spielman's new era hyperbole, There are some small spine signs. But not many. At least some questions are now being asked before the pups sit up and beg for cookies.

Some are even asking for a little time to consider things before dancing to the mayor's tune like they did on the parking meters, red-light cameras, $5M cover-up payment to Laquan McDonald's family, killer property-tax hike, etc... Amazing!

Eg. they put Rahm's $2M TIF plan to build a park near the new Marriott Hotel on hold. OMG!

Originally, that money was part of $55M that was going to build DePaul's (mea culpa St. Vincent) shiny new (but I predict, largely empty) basketball arena. Now the money has been shifted to the hotel after protests against the building of the stadium caused the pols political embarrassment. Not enough to stop it, however. This was millions that should have been spent in classrooms. 

Still friends?

2) How real is Rauner's fallout with Rahm?

My friend, Benny J. says it's completely phony. I say, it's real and phony at the same time. Rauner knows that Rahm agrees with him on neutering the CTU and on much of his austerity reform. But the gov thinks that Rahm and Sen. Cullerton are too cowardly to stand up to machine boss, Mike Madigan. 

It's not just them. Many more Dems are with Rauner on the QT, says the gov. I believe him. 

3) Will Rahm's hiring of his friend, Dan Webb, save him?

Answer: No. 

It's a desperate move and could be his last. The Law Dept. is just a floor away from the mayor's office. Webb was brought in to circumvent the Justice Dept.'s planned investigation. The Pinex killing cover-up is hotter than even the McDonald murder. Jordan Marsh, Rahm's lead attorney who withheld evidence in the Pinex family's suit, has taken the fall and resigned. But was Marsh operating independently of the mayor and his law chief ? A rogue city attorney? No way.

Rahm's claims that it's 'not possible' that the Law Dept.was part of the cover-up. Well, it's not only possible, it's likely. If an investigation leads beyond March and connects to Rahm's top attorney, Stephen Patton, there's no way the mayor isn't culpable. 

Bringing Webb in, smells to high heaven. The deal has even got Rahm's pals at the Sun-Times board nervous. 

Webb's a partner in the clout-heavey firm of Winston & Strawn which has lots of City Hall contracts. Both the firm and Webb himself have given big bucks to Rahm's election campaigns. 

Webb is also representing the city of Ferguson, Mo. in its civil rights case with the U.S. Department of Justice. He charging the impoverished St. Louis suburb his full hourly rate at $1,335. But he working for Rahm for a measly $295/hr. I'm not sure if that's good or bad. If W&S is not in it for legal fees, what then?

He also worked as special prosecutor in 2012 to investigate the death of David Koschman. In 2004, Koschman was punched by Richard Vanecko — a nephew of then-Mayor Richard Daley — and died days later. Vanecko eventually pled guilty to involuntary manslaughter in 2014. But Webb never revealed the depths of the police cover-up in the case or Daley's testimony. 

Webb is defending Ferguson, MO in Justice Dept. civil rights suit. 

Even though Webb has agreed to report his findings only to the city's IG Joe Ferguson, the attempt to undercut the federal investigation is sure to bring down even more scrutiny on Webb and his law firm. Plus you can count on continuing street protests to apply added pressure.

In other words, Rahm's gambit just won't work. 

Remember, Hillary Clinton is coming to town. The IL primary is in March. I'm trying to imagine her posing with Rahm in the middle of a smelly cover-up investigation of his own Law Dept. with black community protesters and allies demanding that Mayor 1% resign. 

Not many of my more political junkie friends agree with me on this, but I still think he will. Of course, I've been wrong once or twice before. I had my money on Clemson last night, for example. 

Former CPS liar-in-chief leaves Rahm's Super PAC to start her own biz.

Substance photo

"She will be a real asset to those that work with her," says Michael Sacks, CEO of Grosvenor Capital Management. -- Crain's

Becky Carroll served as J.C. Brizard's and Byrd-Bennett's liar-in-chief at CPS before moving over to run Rahm's campaign Super PAC. Now, after a year and a half at Chicago Forward, Carroll is setting out on her own. Her new money-making venture is called Chicago Backward (just kidding) C-Strategies LLC and I assume her specialty will be union-busting, school privatization, and attacking progressive political candidates, as always.

Carroll's time at CPS was mostly spent trying to cover up Brizard's ineptness (admittedly an impossible job) and then keep a lid on the BBB/SUPES affair and the UNO corruption scandals. Then there was her CPS budget deception and her selling of the school closings (she named it, "right-sizing"). 

Oh, I almost forgot her efforts to spread dis-information about the Chicago teachers strike in 2012. Quite a track record.

After her relationship with local reporters crashed and burned last year, the mayor pulled her out of CPS' massive Communications Dept. and moved her over to run Chicago Forward where she headed the PAC's $5M effort to elect Rahm's favored puppy-dog aldermen. $2M of that was used to target two progressives, Scott Waguespack in the 32nd and Carlos Rosa in the 35th. Both won handily over machine candidates.

For more on Chicago Forward's failed run at the progressives, see Paul Blumenthal's piece at Huffington, "Chicago Progressives Emboldened After Rahm Emanuel's Super PAC Fails To Beat Them."

Despite this trail of losses, I'm sure Carroll, with investors like Michael Sacks behind her, will make a pile of money in her new venture. Carroll says she's already signed up 10 or so clients, including the Illinois Restaurant Association, who's leading the charge against increasing the minimum wage, and  union-busting education group, Stand for Children.

I can't say I wish her well.

Warning: Be careful who you embed with

em·bed

əmˈbed/ verb 1. fix (an object) firmly and deeply in a surrounding mass.

No, my warning isn't directed at Charlie Sheen's "goddesses". Probably too late for them. It's also too late for GOP current poll leader Ben Carson whose ignorance on foreign policy just got exposed (as if we hadn't noticed) by his "close adviser" and professional embedded "journalist", Armstrong Williams.

So just consider this a warning to everyone who feels they may need it -- AFT, NEA leaders?

Armstrong Williams

For those too young (or too old) to remember, William's approach to journalism was to embed himself with the Bush administration and in particular with Bush's ed secretary, Rod Paige. In January 2005, USA Today reported that documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act revealed that Williams had been paid $240,000 to promote No Child Left Behind. USA Today found that Williams was hired "to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same".

Now Armstrong has betrayed Carson. I guess Dr. C must not have left enough money on the nightstand.

Not to say that politics doesn't make strange bedfellows, or shouldn't. Just a reminder to use protection.

Case Studies... Billionaire Rauner is now the most hated governor in IL history. His budget terrorism and banning of Syrian refugees have been met with hostility and resistance across the state. But who will step up in this fight to save public education and salvage what's left of social support networks in the state? And what kind of deal will Sen. Cullerton and House Speaker Madigan try and cut?

I know CTU is watching to make sure we don't get sold out again on Cullerton's "compromise" SB318 like we did on the unconstitutional pension-theft bill.

Brother Fred says that the Supremes' latest oral arguments indicate that their next ruling will help insure us against another pension grab.

When the Court rules again in favor of our pension rights, as it is expected to do, it will now include what it did not have the opportunity to rule in SB1. They will not only protect us from the elected pension thieves in Springfield and City Hall. They will protect us from sell-out union leaders as well.

Ald. "Slow Eddie" Burke is still quick enough to know which way the wind is blowing on this one. He knows Rauner will take a beating on the refugee question, especially here in Chicago. For one thing, the governor doesn't have the authority to stop refugees from settling in Illinois. But he can push the legislature to cut funding for refugee aid.

So Burke is introducing a city council resolution reaffirming "Chicago’s historic role as a place of sanctuary and refuge". Co-sponsors are Marty Quinn (13th) and Progressive Caucus member, Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th). Should pass easily.

Ald. Waguespack

From Natasha Korecki at Politico -- 9:30 a.m. Progressive Caucus presser at City Hall. From a release:

"Members of the Progressive Reform Caucus will join Access Living Chicago in support of a resolution calling for hearings regarding the impact of financial cuts to special education programs in Chicago Public Schools. To date, Chicago Public Schools has cut approximately $32 million dollars in special education programs, and the budget cut announcements are not over."

-- Expect Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) to introduce a resolution calling for public hearings on special education funding cuts. "This resolution asking for hearings by the Education Committee will provide CPS an opportunity to clear the air and tell the public exactly what the state of funding and support for special needs students is at this point in time and throughout the year," Waguespack said in a statement. "The system supporting special needs students needs to be fully funded and CPS has an obligation to fulfill that duty today."

In case you missed the interview with Kim Foxx, candidate for Cook County State's Attorney on Chicago Tonight. Watch it here.

SpEd cuts delayed? If you don't hit it, it won't fall

At yesterday's board meeting... Parent Wendy Katten of Raise you hand says, "My son's school lost four positions, they have no change in their enrollment there. You are going to face lawsuits."

At least one Board member (Jesse Ruiz?) apparently agrees with Wendy. He mutters into a hot mic -- "Yes we will." Look for him to be called on the carpet today by Rahm's people who will remind him to "speak when we tell you to speak."

Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd) appeared on the parents’ behalf to offer a mild threat in language he thought the board could appreciate.

“These children need more assistance, not less,” he said, adding that “the lawsuits that will rain down” on the board by special ed parents will cost more than the cuts are projected to save.

Slick CEO Claypool is feeling the heat and moves to cover his ass. Now he's saying that CPS says it will delay the cuts until it "reevaluates every school's needs". A small victory. Shows that if you hit it hard enough, it will fall.

Cielo Muñoz, a special education teacher at Penn Elementary, described how the school security guard is now pitching in to change diapers. “Students are not getting the services they need,” she said after the board meeting. “I have three students with wheelchairs,” Munoz tells the Sun-Times. “They need diaper changes. Some of them are not verbal.”

ABC7...

"These teachers are going to be taken, but these students will still be there without the service," says Troy LaRaviere, principal of Blaine Elementary. LaRaviere says if the cuts go through, he will lose four Special Ed positions.

Others took their concerns to the school board today, including Special Ed teacher Sarah Chambers. "My school lost a position over the summer now we are not able to cover our students' legally-required minutes," Chambers says.

Winston jukes stats. Ignores CPS's own report on SpEd needs.

CPS is juking the stats again...In justifying new cuts to special education, the head of the CPS Office of Diverse Learner Supports and Services, Markay Winston, tells the Board that there are 3,000 fewer special needs kids than there were a year ago.

But Melissa Sanchez at Catalyst writes:

Winston ignored one critical fact. According to CPS's own reports, district staff typically identify, during the course of a year, about 3,000 new students who need special services. That means the number of so-called “diverse learners” typically rises by about 3,000 by the end of the school year.

“They trot out numbers like this to give the sense that the district is losing students, and having a decline in the need for services … when their own reports shows that special education enrollment jumps up about 6 percent on average during the school year,” says Pavlyn Jankov, a researcher at the Chicago Teachers Union. “It’s completely part of their framing to justify cuts, but this is just a blatant lie.”

This is part of a pattern. Rahm's crew continues to use the whitenizing of Chicago and the forced outward migration of black families as a rational for cutting services to schools and communities.

If you are parent of a special needs student, Claypool says to contact CPS if you don't think your child is getting his or her services.

Don't worry, Forrest. We will.

Sun-Times columnist Mark Brown who is hot on the case, adds: "Another option would be to contact me."

#Cpsboard now no longer allows people who sign up to speak if THEY think the topic is similar to someone else's.

— Martin Ritter (@MartinLRitter) September 29, 2015

Mentions that BOE changed rules today to limit speakers. Unelected Boe only accountable to one person.

— Raise Your Hand (@ILRaiseYourHand) September 29, 2015

Looking back on Chuy's 'Fuzzy Math'. He wasn't fuzzy, was he.

Most of my political junkie friends tell me that Rahm's election victory in April was sealed when Chuy Garcia failed to come up with specifics on how he'd solve the city's financial crisis. But political theories are like butt cracks. Everybody has one. Yes, the media did a job on Chuy (above) for his reluctance to commit to a property tax increase without first being able to examine the books to see where the money is stashed and how the dark money really being spent.

Turns out that Chuy was just being honest and that's no way to win a mayor's race in Chicago.

If Rahm had been honest (did I really say that?) he would have admitted that he too had no solution to the city's debt/pension crisis and that he wasn't really about that anyway. What he was about was using the crisis to enrich his bankster friends without taxing their profits or big incomes.

Yesterday, Rahm did what he and Daley have always done. Despite the city's junk bond rating, he borrowed another $1.1 billion at an exorbitant interest rate from Morgan Stanley, the very bank which financed Daley's criminal parking meter deal. Billy Daley's bank to be exact.

As you might expect, the bogus borrowing plan sailed through the city council without even time for Rahm's toady alders to even read it. Shades of the parking meter deal.

Only 3 NO votes, Arena (L), Waguespack, and Rosa.

Despite the victories of supposed anti-Rahm council candidates in April, there were only three NO votes yesterday -- Scott Waguespack (32nd), Carlos Ramirez-Rosa (35th) and John Arena (45th) -- bless their souls. Makes you wonder about the other "progressives". Don't it?

As you might have expected, Patrick DALEY Thompson (11th) and "Slow Eddie" Burke (14th), chairman of the City Council’s Finance Committee, voted "present", knowing that the plan would pass anyway.

Said Ramirez-Rosa:

“We can no longer allow the working families of Chicago to shoulder the cost of new borrowing with no plan to repay the debt. We were promised a responsible financial plan. Instead, we have been asked to blindly supply private banks and a limited number of connected individuals with the power to determine the future of Chicago’s financial health.”

He's only a rookie. But he has the heart for the struggle

.@CDRosa cast 1 of 3 "no" votes on city borrowing 1.1 billion for city debt. Ran as a progressive and keeping it that way in office.

— Lynda (@Lyndab08) June 18, 2015

Hey Little Emperor...

Hey little Emperor, come down from your throne

The hourglass is empty, your time has come and gone
The battlements are crumblin’ the walls are tumblin’ down
Your counselors and concubines are getting’ out of town 

-- Steve Earle

Even though I didn't drink last night (honest) I feel hung over this morning after 14 hours of poll watching and then hitting Carlos Rosa's victory party at the Levee. I can't remember a victory like this since Harold Washington won the Democratic mayoral primary in 1983 (Yes, we once had party primaries in Chicago). Yesterday's citywide defeat of Rahm's overstuffed political machine, and Chuy Garcia's forcing of Rahm into a runoff, was as close to being on par with that as it gets.

Rosa's stunning win over a Rahm-backed incumbent was but a small piece of the pie (which I'm still digesting). In my diverse Logan Square neighborhood, it comes on the heels of Rep. Will Guzzardi's devastating rout of  machine daughter Toni Berrios last March. Rosa, a 26-year-old community activist, more than doubled the vote of the mayor's guy, discredited incumbent Rey Colon.

DNAInfo reports:

Ramirez-Rosa was joined on stage at The Levee, 4035 W. Fullerton Ave, by 39th District State Representative Will Guzzardi and a crowd of friends and family around 8:30 p.m. The incoming alderman then claimed his victory in the ward, which represents portions of Logan Square, Avondale, Hermosa, Irving Park and Albany Park.

"This is not about switching one alderman for another; it was about a movement," Ramirez-Rosa said following his acceptance. "We aspire to more — a city that uplifts working people. That's the message the 35th Ward sent today. We proved tonight we can begin the first step of that progression."

Yes we did.

Carlos & Chuy

Citywide, Rahm failed to carry a majority in any ward except for the lakefront and a couple on the far southwest side. His superPAC proved worthless. And his toady incumbents, like John "Petcoke" Pope in the 10th, Deb "Boss' Daughter" Mell, have been forced into runoffs by progressives Susan Sadlowski Garza and Tim Meegan.

My alderman, Scott Waguespack, a leader of the Progressive Caucus, who was singled out for defeat the so-called Chicago Forward PAC, defeated it's candidate Dooty-Jones (I love saying that name, like I love saying Huck-a-Bee, Huck-a-Bee) with 80% of the vote.

The Elected School Board referendum, which was a dagger aimed at the heart of mayoral control of the public schools, carried in ward after ward with numbers around 90%. Makes you wonder who the other 10% was?

More to come on this as my head clears and the final numbers come in.

Beating Rahm's SuperPAC

Progressives Scott Waguespack (left) and John Arena, targeted by Rahm's $2 million super Pack

I braved the cold yesterday and went over to the library to cast my early vote against Rahm and for Ald. Scott Waguespack (32nd). I don't mean to sound gloomy about the weather, but if I should somehow freeze to death between now and the 24th, at least my vote will be counted.

Waguespack is a member of the City Council's Progressive Caucus and Rahm's $2 million super PAC specifically targets him and Caucus member John Arena over in the 45th Ward, for defeat. We won't let that happen.

I also got to vote YES on the Elected School Board referendum and I'm sure it will carry.

I had to laugh when a voter in a nearby booth asked the judge, "How can this person, Doody-Jones,  be on the ballot when she doesn't even live in our ward?" He is referring to Waguespack's opponent -- Rahm's puppy dog, Elise Doody-Jones.

The confused but responsive judge gets on the phone and calls the Board of Elections. She actually connects with a live human being (nice going, David Orr) and asks for clarification on "Dooty-Bones" ballot position.  Turns out, it's legal. But it's a damn good question anyway.

Dooty-bones, indeed. She may not live in the 32nd, but she will pick up a nice chunk of change from the SuperPAC. She promises that she will move over here if elected. Another great reason to vote for Scott.

You have to love Chicago ward politics.

Class War...Mark Brown has a good column in today's S-T about Rauner's escalation of class warfare (thus far one-sided) against organized labor. Brown has good instincts for this kind of stuff and comes by them honestly. He writes:

My first thought upon learning of Rauner’s move was of Fort Sumter and the cannon shot that signaled the beginning of the Civil War, not to suggest anything so momentous.

My second thought was of my grandfather, a railroad worker who was shot and wounded by company thugs who fired on a group of union pickets in the central Illinois railroad wars 69 years ago this month. Yes, I have a visceral reaction to this stuff.

Me too.

Doomsday Clock Ticking...Over the next decade, the U.S. expects to spend $355 billion on modernizing its nuclear weapons. This according to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists. Why? Remember when Obama was running for president and pledged to "set a goal of a world without nuclear weapons, and pursue it"?

Questions: 1) What does "modernizing" nukes have to do with eliminating them? 2) Who are we planning to target with such weapons? 3) Isn't there a better way to spend $335 billion? Ie. in a public education fund where the interest alone would fund the nation's largest school districts for 100 years. 4) Where's the hue and cry from the right on this big gov't spending?

Rahm's Super PAC goes after my alderman

LAUGHABLE...Rahm's puppy dog in the 32nd Ward race is someone named Elise Doody-Jones. She's running against our progressive Alderman Scott Waguespack, Scott was one of only 4 aldermen with enough ganas to vote no on the mayor's rotten budget.

Doody-Jones, who doesn't even live in the ward, is the beneficiary of a big chunk of that $2M pot of gold from the mayor's Super PAC. "Chicago Forward" is run by his former CPS Liar-in-Chief Becky Carrol -- not the brightest bulb on the tree.

Case in point, this slick propaganda piece that came in the mail yesterday attacking Waguespack for supposedly voting against $10M to fix the city's potholes. Yes, it's true that hundreds of pot holes remain unfilled from last winter's storms --that's right, a year later-- and every driver whose car smashed through one has been heard screaming, "Fu*k you, Rahm Emanuel" at the top of their lungs (me included).

But the expensive card-stock  mailer tries to take the heat off the most-hated mayor in the country by blaming our alderman for the city's failure to fix the streets, even though Rahm's budget, including the pothole money, was passed easily by a gaggle of boot-licking city councilman. The flier even has a picture of a still-unfilled pothole at Racine and Wrightwood -- not even in Waguespack's ward -- to remind us how much we disdain this mayor.

Actually, Scott's ward ranks among the highest in seeking pothole work. He even sponsored a separate bill to boost spending.  But the way the machine works is that the mayor can punish an opponent's ward by denying them city services. Cutting back on services in black wards on the city's west and south side has become a habit with the machine bosses. Thus Rahm's single-digit approval rating in the city's African-American community.

Now Rahm is using the same tactic to punish members of the Progressive Caucus.

And that was also the theme behind the mayor's budget -- feed the wealthy downtown neighborhoods at the expense of the resource-starved ones. Scott was right-on in voting no and had the guts to do it in the face of adversity and Rahm's threats to punish him at election time.

But Becky Carrol's flier is the work of a rank amateur. It never even mentions Doody-Jones (can't really blame 'em for that). So readers aren't told who to vote for. We only see a picture of Scott with his name emblazoned in the headline. It reminds me of the kind of silly crap we used to get every day in the mail from the disastrous Toni Berrios campaign when she lost her state rep race to progressive Will Guzzardi despite the machine (Madigan and machine boss, "Big Daddy" Berrios) spending a ton of money on junk mailers that usually ended up in voters hallway trash cans and never even made it into the house.

I can't imagine that the good folks in our ward will fall for this crap.