Chicago government braces for more than cold weather in 2018

With a tumultuous 2017, Chicago now faces an uphill battle of both challenges and problems, many that might take months to tackle. Number one on the list is the leadership of the public school system, the nation’s third largest, which now has its third leader in less than a decade, Janice Jackson, who replaces Forrest Claypool, forced to resign in an ethics scandal involving an employee supervising work from his previous employer, where there was a significant financial agreement, has received praise for her success as an educator, but also criticism for supporting the recent round of school closings in the Englewood neighborhood, one of the city’s poorest.

An African American, she has also received a warning from other black leaders that if she creates policies that harm black students and their neighborhoods, then she will be in more than just a hot seat.

The revelation that Claypool, long the go-to-guy for tough jobs, who had a squeaky clean reputation sent local residents and politicos reeling, especially after predecessor Barbara Byrd Bennett, was recently convicted of embezzling money and funneling it to her former employer, in exchange for a kickback

With a majority of Chicago Public Schools holding mostly Hispanic (46.8%) and African American (37.0) students, the political will for leadership and development is scarce in this long racially divided city, where many students of color are clustered, especially on the South and West sides, in crumbling buildings, some devoid of proper heating and cooling.

With rampant cost overruns for maintenance and teachers pensions, and the looming ghosts of the 2012 teachers strike, the financial forecast has improved, but is still sorely in need of triage.

One area of overlapping improvement was the creation of a new school funding formula, statewide, but that gave CPS students a boost to what had been the nation’s worst for low-income students; and, especially with the old formula that was strictly tethered to real estate taxes, and left some wealthy suburban schools with a bonus, even surplus, and some in the city, struggling to stay open.

In what many are considering to be a step in the right direction, two bond rating agencies have given thumbs up to the recent Illinois school funding formula, with reservations but praise nevertheless. S&P Global Ratings “revised the outlook on the Chicago Board of Education’s junk credit rating to stable from negative . . . citing a boost in state and local funding for the cash-strapped school district,” reported Reuters.

Jackson will have a tough time to show that student test scores continue to improve and tackle the financing and at the same time, handle the racial divisions, where some might see her, despite an ilustours record, as a sell out.

For Mayor Rahm Emanuel he faces another hit for the city’s reputation as being corrupt, and his resignation to Claypool’s departure made him look as if he was not in control of his department heads, especially in his quest for re-election; made even more questionable from the city’s black residents who are still stinging from the 50 school closings in their neighborhoods in 2013.

The Claypool departure has also reinvigorated calls for an elected school board, but that move is not a panacea for freedom, as it could easily be dominated by one faction, or another, of which the city has many.

The brightest light on the state level was the success in an override of Gov. Bruce Rauner’s veto, for a budget after a two year absence and that left many public colleges and universities facing deficits that could only be handled, in some cases with furlough days, and forced cuts in programs.

For 2018 social service agencies who were forced to beg for private donations, or close, will have to shore up finances and staffing to fulfill their missions, while the state pays a backlog of unpaid bills that was pegged at $16.6 billion dollars.

Comptroller Susana Mendoza requested a new rule that would require monthly reports of unpaid bills, and “will require state agencies to report bills on a monthly basis and include how old the bills are, whether funds have been appropriated to pay those bills and how much interest is owed,” reported Bloomberg Markets.

In what will be eventually seen as an ill-advised move the state has begun award $75 million of tax cuts -- vouchers really -- for private and Roman Catholic schools, a move that was decried in the press, but that Cardinal Cupich lauded, and pithly commented when pressed by supporters of the Chicago Teachers Union, they got their raise, what’s the issue?

The $75 million could go a long way in restoring cut programs such as the arts and special education, and more teachers, but the cardinal bypassed in feigned wonderment.

Cook County President Toni Preckwinkle, searching for needed money, created a sweetened beverage tax, called a pop tax, in local parlance, that had people in arms, especially retailers who employed many heads of households. While some liberals took a short-sighted attitude, “if you want to drink this, then pay up,” most realized the financial pitfalls, in what was another regressive tax in the Emanuel quiver.

The claim that the tax was to fight childhood obesity, was later retrenched and Preckwinkle said, it was always about the money. With voters ready to topple her and the county budget, the tax was rescinded on Dec.1.

Now, the fight to get money into the coffers has brought out many who say, delete the bloated bureaucracy of the nation’s second largest county, and what anti-union critics say are inflated salaries, putting Preckwinkle in an unenviable position, to manage the $3.1 billion budget, but also showing the county’s 5.2 million residents that they have power, and can use it.

The long held belief that the Chicago Police Department operated under different rules than other public servants, treating people of color differently than whites, still holds sway, but there was hope in the unprecedented conviction of an officer, Marco Proano, who shot into a car, using unreasonable force, gave hope to many. Of course, it will take a long time for trust to be regained by many of the public towards the police.

Finally, on the gubernatorial side, the reelection of Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner, who has become as unpopular as Scrooge on Christmas Eve, has brought only one GOP contender, Rep. Jeanne Ives, while the Democrats have a plethora of people, including J.B. Pritzker, the Hyatt heir, the earnest, and former head of the Merchandise Mart, Chris Kennedy, and son ot the late Robert F. Kennedy, Ceasefire creator, Tio Hardiman, and educators Daniel Biss and Bob Daiber.

Pritzker supporters are in earnest and some are saying that the only way to beat Rauner is someone as wealthy as he is, if not more. But, there are others that say this should be about the issues, and not money.

Speaking on money, despite the largest property tax in Chicago history, and the increases in water and sewage rates, pension obligations are to the tune of $40 billion, say some, and others that, collectively, the tax hikes and other measures will take at least a decade to show improvement.

It’s going to be quite a year in 2018.