I would expect nothing less of anything larger than a lemonade stand built in Illinois. We Illinoisans take our fiscal irresponsibility seriously. For years, we didn't even bother with a state budget. Pritker fixed that; we now have budgets, but they're billions out of balance routinely. A bit of light reading on Obama's unusual rocket f…
I would expect nothing less of anything larger than a lemonade stand built in Illinois. We Illinoisans take our fiscal irresponsibility seriously. For years, we didn't even bother with a state budget. Pritker fixed that; we now have budgets, but they're billions out of balance routinely. A bit of light reading on Obama's unusual rocket from a small-time community organizer to the White House gives a glimpse into our politics. We've jailed a record number of governors, and the ex-speaker has been convicted of numerous felonies, yet still, not even a court date set for sentencing.
I hear you. How many years ago was I reading about Chicago's (or IL's) school pension fund program being bankrupt? Too long ago. People use to say "hand caught in the cookie jar." I changed it to "arm caught in the cookie jar."
GAVE, public pensions in Illinois hold the state hostage. The state is by far the largest employer, and government employees' retirements are written into the constitution, so they can't be changed. The shortfall is conservatively estimated at 144 billion dollars, yet Chicago's teachers' union just voted itself a huge raise. The average starting public school teacher now makes $140,000 for 9 months per year, 6 hours per day, no weekends, no holidays. Not a bad gig unless you are expected to pick up the tab, or God forbid, you have kids in the poorly-rated schools. Contrast this with the average yearly salary of Illinoisans, $54,400, and the obscenity is clearer.
I remember some years ago Chicago Teachers Union went on strike so no classes —— BUT the schools were opened to feed the children breakfast. A lot wrong with that picture.
People who don’t live here can’t comprehend the corruption. That’s why The Chicago Way “joining”with the Federal government was guaranteed to spawn what we see today, and what DOGE is exposing. The Blob’s* outrage at DOGE is inevitable.
According to the school district, starting pay for Chicago public schools teachers is about &57K with a Bachelor’s degree, $61K with a Masters. If starting salaries were $140K, there would be a fucking tsunami of applicants.
Where in the hell did you get that number? Jesus..
And raise your hand if you know even one single teacher who works 30 hours per week. C’mon, at least act serious.
I was incorrect with my statement. Per Salary.com and Google search, the average salary for Chicago public school teachers is 128,000. The average salary for a teacher in Chicago, IL is approximately $57,000 per year?
"The average salary for a Chicago Public School Teacher is significantly higher, estimated at around $128,709 per year.
This discrepancy may be due to the specific context of the public school system and union contracts."
I said this is the average starting salary, and it is actually the average salary. I was $12,000 off, you are much farther off.
My brother and sister are both public school teachers. They work considerably less than 8 hours per day. They have every holiday off, including ridiculous ones like Count Pulaski Day. They have two weeks off at Christmas, A week at Thanksgiving, spring break, and 3 months off for summer vacation. Teachers have their crosses to bear, but long hours and poor pay are not among them.
Oh my! Ditto here with the state being the largest employer. And that won't be resolved until the fed $$$ tap is turned off. The fed dollars are a big part of the problem. We have 1.3M in our voter rolls and almost equal to that are the people needing health & human services benefits. Not a recipe for success. Add to that, kids can't read.
The idiot little girl of some segment of The State Human Services Division stated on their website that the state made "a great investment" by appropriating something like $1B to her agency because it would be "matched" with federal dollars of $7B. Huh??? She actually called it "a return" on that state investment. I labeled her a virtual "Wolf of Wall Street" to the County Commissioners. We get 2 minutes to talk to them during "public comment."
In Illinois, the politician du jour finds the cookie jar the moment he purchases the election. Then crawls inside, slobbering up as many cookies as he can hold, then falls asleep inside, secure in the knowledge that he's safe. Yes, there is a mass exit from the state for those lucky enough to be mobile. But for the rest of us, there's only watching the horror unfold.
Don't despair. My state is the same but the numbers are not quite so large. We (thousands across the U.S.) have figured a lot of it out. It started with the 2020 election and everyone began to dig and we haven't stopped.
Ours runs far deeper. Four of the last ten governors have gone to prison, two more were prosecuted for wrongdoing but acquitted at trial. At one point, we were sporting two governors at once behind bars. Even the revered Pritzker evaded millions in property taxes. His wife had half the toilets removed from their Gold Coast multimillion-dollar home to avoid taxes, he was under federal criminal investigation 100 days into office. It's the political climate here.
Our political climate over here remains what I call “Queen Isabella’s Court.” Both have existed for a long time and are entrenched in the culture. Changing a culture takes decades. Every citizen can help by using cash for their transactions. Refuse to do business with entities that don’t take cash. Pay for whatever you can with a check or cash.
I can imagine Obama requiring retinal scans for getting into his “Presidential Center.” The corruption is All about money, who gets it and who takes it away. For God’s Sake don’t make it easy for them, Dear.
I'm a cash user whenever possible, unfortunately, that's usually the grocery store, hardware store, and a few others. Fast food restaurants are entertaining to watch the cashiers fumble trying to figure out how many dollars is 11 and what change makes 73 cents. Imagine if the machine didn't give the change amount?!!
I would expect nothing less of anything larger than a lemonade stand built in Illinois. We Illinoisans take our fiscal irresponsibility seriously. For years, we didn't even bother with a state budget. Pritker fixed that; we now have budgets, but they're billions out of balance routinely. A bit of light reading on Obama's unusual rocket from a small-time community organizer to the White House gives a glimpse into our politics. We've jailed a record number of governors, and the ex-speaker has been convicted of numerous felonies, yet still, not even a court date set for sentencing.
Ha! Now we have state budgets that fund every leftist dream, with the goal of launching Gov. P to the White House.
Actually making Gov. P the President might be brilliant — no doubt people will flee D.C. at the same rate people are fleeing The Land of Lincoln.
I hear you. How many years ago was I reading about Chicago's (or IL's) school pension fund program being bankrupt? Too long ago. People use to say "hand caught in the cookie jar." I changed it to "arm caught in the cookie jar."
https://www.architecture.org/online-resources/stories-of-chicago/what-you-need-to-know-about-the-obama-presidential-center
The lemonade stand, the people get lemons.
GAVE, public pensions in Illinois hold the state hostage. The state is by far the largest employer, and government employees' retirements are written into the constitution, so they can't be changed. The shortfall is conservatively estimated at 144 billion dollars, yet Chicago's teachers' union just voted itself a huge raise. The average starting public school teacher now makes $140,000 for 9 months per year, 6 hours per day, no weekends, no holidays. Not a bad gig unless you are expected to pick up the tab, or God forbid, you have kids in the poorly-rated schools. Contrast this with the average yearly salary of Illinoisans, $54,400, and the obscenity is clearer.
I remember some years ago Chicago Teachers Union went on strike so no classes —— BUT the schools were opened to feed the children breakfast. A lot wrong with that picture.
People who don’t live here can’t comprehend the corruption. That’s why The Chicago Way “joining”with the Federal government was guaranteed to spawn what we see today, and what DOGE is exposing. The Blob’s* outrage at DOGE is inevitable.
*Not referring to Gov. P, but it could.
According to the school district, starting pay for Chicago public schools teachers is about &57K with a Bachelor’s degree, $61K with a Masters. If starting salaries were $140K, there would be a fucking tsunami of applicants.
Where in the hell did you get that number? Jesus..
And raise your hand if you know even one single teacher who works 30 hours per week. C’mon, at least act serious.
I was incorrect with my statement. Per Salary.com and Google search, the average salary for Chicago public school teachers is 128,000. The average salary for a teacher in Chicago, IL is approximately $57,000 per year?
"The average salary for a Chicago Public School Teacher is significantly higher, estimated at around $128,709 per year.
This discrepancy may be due to the specific context of the public school system and union contracts."
I said this is the average starting salary, and it is actually the average salary. I was $12,000 off, you are much farther off.
My brother and sister are both public school teachers. They work considerably less than 8 hours per day. They have every holiday off, including ridiculous ones like Count Pulaski Day. They have two weeks off at Christmas, A week at Thanksgiving, spring break, and 3 months off for summer vacation. Teachers have their crosses to bear, but long hours and poor pay are not among them.
Oh my! Ditto here with the state being the largest employer. And that won't be resolved until the fed $$$ tap is turned off. The fed dollars are a big part of the problem. We have 1.3M in our voter rolls and almost equal to that are the people needing health & human services benefits. Not a recipe for success. Add to that, kids can't read.
The idiot little girl of some segment of The State Human Services Division stated on their website that the state made "a great investment" by appropriating something like $1B to her agency because it would be "matched" with federal dollars of $7B. Huh??? She actually called it "a return" on that state investment. I labeled her a virtual "Wolf of Wall Street" to the County Commissioners. We get 2 minutes to talk to them during "public comment."
They won't get the reference.
In Illinois, the politician du jour finds the cookie jar the moment he purchases the election. Then crawls inside, slobbering up as many cookies as he can hold, then falls asleep inside, secure in the knowledge that he's safe. Yes, there is a mass exit from the state for those lucky enough to be mobile. But for the rest of us, there's only watching the horror unfold.
Don't despair. My state is the same but the numbers are not quite so large. We (thousands across the U.S.) have figured a lot of it out. It started with the 2020 election and everyone began to dig and we haven't stopped.
Ours runs far deeper. Four of the last ten governors have gone to prison, two more were prosecuted for wrongdoing but acquitted at trial. At one point, we were sporting two governors at once behind bars. Even the revered Pritzker evaded millions in property taxes. His wife had half the toilets removed from their Gold Coast multimillion-dollar home to avoid taxes, he was under federal criminal investigation 100 days into office. It's the political climate here.
Our political climate over here remains what I call “Queen Isabella’s Court.” Both have existed for a long time and are entrenched in the culture. Changing a culture takes decades. Every citizen can help by using cash for their transactions. Refuse to do business with entities that don’t take cash. Pay for whatever you can with a check or cash.
I can imagine Obama requiring retinal scans for getting into his “Presidential Center.” The corruption is All about money, who gets it and who takes it away. For God’s Sake don’t make it easy for them, Dear.
I'm a cash user whenever possible, unfortunately, that's usually the grocery store, hardware store, and a few others. Fast food restaurants are entertaining to watch the cashiers fumble trying to figure out how many dollars is 11 and what change makes 73 cents. Imagine if the machine didn't give the change amount?!!