Latest News and Comment from Education

Thursday, May 24, 2012

You probably thought the reason for the underfunding of pensions was the failure of the state to pay their share. Madigan says it is because of retired pensioners getting a cost of living adjustment. « Fred Klonsky

You probably thought the reason for the underfunding of pensions was the failure of the state to pay their share. Madigan says it is because of retired pensioners getting a cost of living adjustment. « Fred Klonsky:


You probably thought the reason for the underfunding of pensions was the failure of the state to pay their share. Madigan says it is because of retired pensioners getting a cost of living adjustment.

In this video, Democratic Party Chairman and Speaker of the Illinois House Mike Madigan makes an astonishing statement. AKA, a lie. He claims the present problem with public employee pensions is the fact that retired pensioners receive a cost of living adjustment (COLA). He is mute on the four decades of his General Assembly failing to meet their pension obligations.
Many fear that the leadership of the IEA and other unions may agree with him.
Call your legislator now and tell them the truth.


You probably thought the reason for the underfunding of pensions was the failure of the state to pay their share. Madigan says it is because of retired pensioners getting a cost of living adjustment.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 3 minutes ago
In this video, Democratic Party Chairman and Speaker of the Illinois House Mike Madigan makes an astonishing statement. AKA, a lie. He claims the present problem with public employee pensions is the fact that retired pensioners receive a cost of living adjustment (COLA). He is mute on the four decades of his General Assembly failing [...]

Mitten’s ed advisers are Bush retreads. Who speaks for us?

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 29 minutes ago
Mittens announced his education advisory panel yesterday. You will find no surprises on it. It is made up of the usual suspects. Corporate reformers, Hoover institute academics that wouldn’t recognize a child if she were pulling on their pant leg and Bush DOE retreads. He needn’t have bothered. If the voters were to actually elect [...]

Chicago is at the center of a teacher storm.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 4 hours ago
What does a real teacher union look like? This is what a real teacher union looks like. “It’s not like the old days,” IEA President Cinda Klickna said to me in explanation of why the IEA wasn’t doing a very good job of mobilizing members earlier this year, canceling a mass rally in Springfield with [...]

What does a real teachers union look like? This is what it looks like.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 11 hours ago
Following a huge rally at the Auditorium Theater, 5,000 Chicago teachers march down Michigan Avenue to CPS headquarters.

Divide and conquer on pensions?

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 23 hours ago
Rich Miller, who puts out the authoritative CapitolFax, reports in a copyrighted story that a fight has developed between Governor Quinn and some legislative leaders over the tactics of dealing with state pensions. Some legislators, who are terrified of the electoral repercussions of voting against teachers before the November election want to separate out TRS [...]

Chicago schools. Huge rally tonight. Strike vote set.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 1 day ago
In what has become a hallmark of the fighting spirit of the Chicago Teachers Union and their leadership, a huge rally is planned tonight at the historic Auditorium Theater of Roosevelt University. The Auditorium holds over 4,000, and with only CTU members allowed in, thousands more supporters are expected to gather outside. CTU leaders also [...]

No snail mail. No email. Call directly today.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 1 day ago
Today is the day you have to call about teacher pensions in Illinois. No time for a long letter laying out the issues. That time is over. No time for email. That thing you never use anymore? It’s called a phone. Use it. You can get your legislator’s number here. The message is simple: Protect [...]

What ever happened to…Rod Paige?

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 1 day ago
Like summer colds and Zach Galifianakis comedies, school reformers come and go. In this semi-regular post we will answer the question: What ever happened to…” Today? What ever happened to Rod Paige? Paige was an Education Secretary in the George W. Bush administration. He was the one before Maggie Spellings. His fifteen minutes of fame [...]

Cutting my pension is a teachable moment for Governor Quinn.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 1 day ago
Governor Quinn meets with 8th grade students at Julian Middle School in Oak Park, Illinois. This town hall meeting provided an opportunity for the Governor to explain his Medicaid cuts to poor people and his teacher pension gutting proposals to 8th graders during school hours. Now if I were to turn my classes into teachable [...]

The in box. I’ve cut Jeff off.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 1 day ago
Fred, Let me get this straight Fred. You are an ararchist (sic) who wants to use your government to force private sector taxpayers who earn less than you to pay out benefits to you that they had no say in negotiating. As long as you benefit from government taking away my free will you are [...]

Pritzker poisons NATO officials.

Fred Klonsky at Fred Klonsky - 1 day ago
Penny Pritzker. Hyatt owner. Pal of Obama and Emanuel. Member of CPS Board of Ed. The McCormick Hyatt is where most of the NATO delegates were staying this weekend. It is attached to the gigantic McCormick Convention Center and was in the Green Zone. As readers of this blog know, Hyatt is owned by the [...]