the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist
“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx
Aug 5, 2013
The other shoe has dropped. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s school board announced an additional 2,100 layoffs, including more than a thousand teachers. This comes on the heels of the 850 layoffs from closing fifty schools.
The 65 million dollars thus “saved” on the schools will be available for TIF districts, that is, areas where a portion of the property taxes are diverted into “development funds” controlled by the mayor, handed over to business. More than 200 million dollars of money earmarked for schools is thus diverted from the schools every year!
In other words, Emanuel is stealing still more money to give away to business.
Hundreds of teachers rallied at July’s Board of Education Meeting. Many parents, students and teachers addressed the board, pointing repeatedly to the TIF money pot and the mayor’s misplaced priorities.
In protest, 73 of city’s Local School Councils have rejected the budgets sent them by the Board of Education. Local School Councils represent most public schools; they are elected, and include a school’s principal, parents, and community members. They are right to raise a stink–because this deal smells.