Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner, not satisfied that his anti-union agenda isn’t going anywhere, is trying a new tactic: Having the state take over the largest school district in Illinois in an attempt to stamp out the Chicago Teachers Union.
The Republican plan would allow the State Board of Education, with members picked by Rauner, to replace the school board for the Chicago Public Schools, which has members chosen by Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel. “The state panel would have the power to negotiate a new teachers' contract if none is reached in current talks, or oversee a union contract that could be broken if the district filed for bankruptcy,” says a story by the Chicago Tribune.
CPD finances, with an estimated $480 million deficit, are in bad shape. They are overshadowed only by the finances of the city itself and the finances of the state of Illinois, which hasn’t had a real budget since last summer.
Rauner is still in a feud with state Democratic leaders, who hold big majorities in both houses of the state Legislature and refuse to go along with what Rauner calls his “Turnaround Agenda.” That agenda, as the Tribune story describes it, would “include provisions that would allow sharp curbs on collective bargaining with public worker unions, eliminate the requirement that prevailing union wages be paid on public works projects, and put more of the onus on injured workers to prove their workers' compensation claims are justified.”
State Democrats have vowed that this GOP proposal isn’t going anywhere, but Rauner thinks it gives him a chance to draw attention away from the state’s budget battles. The Emanuel forces weren’t impressed.
"Giving control of our children's future to a governor who can't pass his own budget, who is racking up billions in unpaid bills, and who is crippling higher education across the state makes zero sense," Kelley Quinn, Emanuel's spokeswoman, said while the mayor was attending a conference in Washington, D.C.
"With just a few weeks to go before delivering a second (state) budget address without having passed his first budget, it's clear the Republicans in Springfield are trying desperately to distract from their own failures," she said.
Chicago Teachers Union representatives, who are in negotiations with the school district for a new contract, also blasted the GOP proposal, according to the Tribune story.
Jesse Sharkey, CTU's vice president, said during a break in contract negotiations that Rauner's actions were "very disruptive and unhelpful to the bargaining process right now."
"It's a disruption and it's also a stunt, because last time I checked Rauner doesn't have anywhere near enough votes in the legislature to move any of the things he's talking about," Sharkey said, adding that he believed the city was negotiating "seriously" and talks had been "productive."
Rauner is trying to take advantage of the public disdain toward his one-time ally, Emanuel, who now has an 18 percent approval rating after the delayed release of two videos showing Chicago police shooting unarmed black teenagers. Emanuel has “failed on public safety, he's failed on schools, he's failed on jobs in the neighborhoods, he's failed on taxes, he's failed on reforms. And I'm tired of it. We have to take action," the Tribune quoted Rauner as saying. Rauner accused the mayor of being "afraid" of the CTU.
Rauner is slipping into negative territory himself. His disapproval rating is now at 51.6 percent and his approval rating is 33.1 percent, according to a report by The Illinois Observer. When Rauner was sworn in a year ago, he was at 52 percent approval and 23 percent disapproval. A Democratic state lawmaker referred to Rauner, a millionaire businessman with no political experience, as “Scott Walker lite.”
But by all means, Governor, let’s have a cash-strapped state take over the Chicago Public Schools. Because you know how well state control over local entities worked out in Michigan. Just ask the people of Flint.