Shame: Chicago Teachers Union accuses CPS of "educational apartheid"

Occupy Chicago anti-NATO summit rally--
on a school day!

The far-left Chicago Teachers Union reached another new low today. It's accusing the Chicago Public Schools of "educational apartheid" because it wants to open more charter schools. Charters in Chicago can boast about educational achievement. For instance, while the city's unionized schools graduate barely half of its incoming freshmen, charter schools graduate over three-quarters of their freshmen.

CTU members claim that charters pick and choose their students. That's a lie. A lottery system determines who gets in--with the exception of siblings of current students.

As for the apartheid charge, over 90 percent of Chicago Public Schools students come from minority families. There are no all-white public schools in Chicago, but that didn't stop the CTU from calling its report, "The Black and White of Education."

Have they no sense of decency?

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• Video: Chicago Teachers Union organizer welcomes Occupy Chicago to new home
• New film by Juan Williams rips Chicago Teachers Union
• Chicago Teachers Union sends out email urging participation in anti-Walmart protests

(Video) Time for Presidential Leadership on Entitlements

Over four years ago President Obama promised entitlement reform.

We are still waiting, Mr. President.

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From the Foundry Blog: Big Labor's federal rap sheet

And to think that we have one month left in 2012....

It's been a busy year for federal prosecutors in their battle against union corruption.

From the Heritage Foundation's Foundry Blog: Union Corruption 2012, Big Labor's Federal Rap Sheet.

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(Video) A different view on taxing "the rich" in Pennsylvania: This Is Small Business

Small business owner Jerry Gorski, of Gorski Engineering employs 17 people in Collegeville, Pennsylvania, which is just a few miles away from Hatfield, where President Obama launched into class warfare rhetoric again earlier this afternoon.

The office of Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy produced a video about Gorski's situation.

"This notion of $250,000 being the top two percent--or the wealthy people in America, " Gorski says here, "ignores the way most small businesses work."

The higher taxes proposed by Obama against the so-called rich creates unnecessary "uncertainty" for Gorski's firm.

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Illinois' Quinn is America's most unpopular governor

Illinois is broken

How does a governor become unpopular? By lying to voters about the size of an increase in the state income tax he was seeking, as Pat Quinn did two years ago.

In April, the Chicago Democrat said he was "put on Earth" to fix Illinois' $100 billion unfunded pension liability. Clearly Quinn was put on Earth to do something to do something else--such as fail to win reelection in 2014.

More from the Chicago Sun-Times:

With only one in four Illinois voters approving his job performance, Gov. Pat Quinn is the least popular in the country and would lose in head-to-head pairings against two of three Republicans eying his job in 2014, a newly commissioned survey found Thursday.

Just 25 percent of voters in Illinois approved of the work Quinn is doing, while 64 percent disapprove, the Democratic-leaning Public Policy Polling firm found. That level of support made him “the most unpopular governor [it] has polled on anywhere in the country this year,” the polling firm said.

If a general election were held today, Quinn would lose to state Sen. Kirk Dillard (R-Hinsdale) by a 44 percent to 37 percent and to state Treasurer Dan Rutherford by a 43 percent to 39 percent margin, the firm reported.

Related post:

Gov. Pat Quinn's bizarre pension video

Technorati tags: pensions Politics economy news Patrick Quinn pat quinn government taxesillinois politics

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Will Obama end his war on for-profit colleges?

Will President Obama's war on for-profit colleges that I've written about so many times end.

Form Rep. Steve Gunderson, R-WI, president and CEO of the Association of Private Sector Colleges and Universities, expresses hope that it will in Roll Call:

Considering the legions of working parents, single moms, veterans and underserved citizens who use our schools to bring them closer to a better life, our institutions are part of the vision the president communicated.

We are modernizing the definition of higher education and what that will look like as we head further into the 21st century. Certainly it will be far different from the modes we have become accustomed to, consisting exclusively of bricks-and-mortar campus models. By 2020, "technology will allow for more individualized, passion-based learning by the student, greater access to master teaching, and more opportunities for students to connect to others . . . for enhanced learning experiences," observed the Aspen Institute’s Charlie Firestone in a recent Pew Research study.

We want to work with the president to make accommodations for these changes before it is too late.

The election was a reflection of shifting voting blocs and the growth of diverse populations as an electoral advantage, but it was also a wake-up call regarding the need to fundamentally rethink higher education.

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Second one this year: Illinois Democratic state legislator indicted

When news like this comes out, it's easy to understand why Illinois is generally considered one the worst run states in America. For the second time this year, a member of the Illinois House of Representatives finds himself on the wrong side of the law.

And this story has a twist--involving ShoreBank, the failed bank with ties to the Obama administration.

From CBS 2 Chicago:

State Rep. La Shawn Ford has been indicted on federal bank fraud charges, accused of falsifying bank loans to get an additional $500,000 in credit for his real estate business, and then using the funds for personal and campaign expenses.

Ford, 40, has been charged with eight counts of bank fraud, and nine counts of submitting false information to a bank. The charges involve activity that allegedly occurred mostly before he first took office.

Ford has been in the Illinois House since 2007, and was re-elected to a new term earlier this month. He also operates Ford Desired Real Estate Inc., a commercial real estate firm based in Chicago.

According to federal prosecutors, Ford had multiple loans with ShoreBank, including a $1 million line of credit, which was to be used only to buy and rehab property for his real estate company. In May 2006, he obtained a $500,000 increase and two-year extension on that line of credit by submitting false tax returns that inflated his personal and business income, prosecutors alleged.

While reviewing ShoreBank documents, federal authorities discovered the shady deals involving Ford, who is a Democrat from Chicago's West Side.

Ford needs a lawyer

The other state house member indicted this year was Derrick Smith, another West Side Democrat. Smith was expelled by his colleagues this summer, but he remained on the fall ballot--and voters who only know how to select Democrats are sending him back to Springfield. It's easy to understand why Illinois is a national laughingstock.

The Ford indictment can be viewed here.

And finally, the Democrats, despite their proven inability to run Illinois, "earned" veto-proof majorities in both chambers of the General Assembly on Election Day. How? By gerrymandering. Take a look at a map of the contorted 8th House District, which Ford represents.

Related post:

Chicago: Three election contests--three atrocious results

Technorati tags: Illinois Democrats chicago current events Cook County Illinois Politics corruption cronyism graft legal crime