Submitted by arlenegloria on Thu, 07/08/2010 - 20:05

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Huberman's Miracle

by Ben Jarovsky

I gotta give a shout-out to Ron Huberman for a masterful performance at his June 28 press conference.

Huberman, CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, managed to drive a wedge between parents and teachers—or at least gave it the old college try—while dropping a not-so-subtle hint for the Chicago Teachers Union about what the future will look like if he and Mayor Daley continue their efforts to privatize the schools.

Huberman called the press conference ostensibly to announce that he'd somehow or other found some fat in the budget that would let him back off his threats to slash 2,700 teachers, jack up elementary school class size to as many as 37 students, and cut such popular programs as all-day kindergarten.

If you recall, he'd been saying he'd have to make those cuts at the start of the new school year in September—unless the members of the teachers' union would give up the 4 percent raise their contract promised them. It all came down to the teachers—give up your raises or we're cramming more kids into the classroom, because we've pared the central office budget to the bone.

But as I reported in April, hundreds of central office salaries, including Huberman's own, have been hiked in the last year. And he's continuing to hire new employees for the central office—he recently posted three positions in the office of Academic Enhancement, each of which pays up to $136,000 a year. And the Board of Education hiked its own allowance to cover travel, seminars, subscriptions, and other expenses.

And (you knew this was coming) Huberman and the board continue to look the other way as Mayor Daley diverts up to $250 million in property tax dollars from the schools to the tax increment financing program.

Predictably, the Sun-Times and Tribune both fell into line after
Please visit Chicago Reader to read more:

http://www.chicagoreader.com/chicago/ron-huberman-cutbacks-cps-teachers-union/Content?oid=2074219