Chicago Reader

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

Mr. Right For CPS

Posted by Ben Joravsky on Wed, Jan 28, 2009 at 3:14 PM

I don't know why anyone's surprised that Mayor Daley pulled Ron Huberman from the CTA to head the Chicago Public Schools.

It's true that Huberman has no background in education other than having attended school. But running Chicago's public schools has very little do with educating children. In fact, if you're the CEO, the less you know or care about schools or children the better off you'll be. At least then you might not be as upset by some of the things the mayor makes you do.

During the reign of Arne Duncan, Huberman's predecessor, the main responsibilities of Daley's school chief were to keep contracts going to the mayor's favorite charter programs, close schools in gentrifying neighborhoods so they can be demolished and turned into condos, and remain quiet while the system hands over about $275 million a year in property taxes to Daley's tax increment financing schemes. That means you have to regularly chastise the state for not sending Chicago more school money while knowing that so much of what the state does send gets squandered on boondoggles.

Anything else? Oh yeah: you have to be very--and I mean very--loyal  to the mayor. You have to take the hit for his really dumb ideas and you have to remember to thank him at press conferences and ceremonies for being a special human being.

There's also going to be a new twist to the job now that President Obama's poised to unleash a torrent of federal education dollars, up to $150 billion over the next two years. Much of Huberman's time will be spent funneling the billions he gets from Duncan, now the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education, to whatever projects Daley wants. The last thing the mayor needs is an independent-minded schools chief questioning how he spends his money.

Now I appreciate just about any increase in education funding, and I have no doubt that a few good programs here and there will be funded with the federal money we'll get. It's sort of like blasting a shotgun at a flock of geese--you're bound to hit at least one.

But this being Chicago I have to figure that millions more will be wasted on pork, clout, and stupidity. So Huberman will have to perfect a look of outrage when especially egregious scandals are revealed.

As you can see, the job requires some first-rate acting skills. Come to think of it, there had to be more qualified candidates than Huberman. But I guess they were busy

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Comments (18) RSS

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ben , You made be laugh so hard had to Bendover. You know why ,what, who and how The City that works , works for the Daley crime family!!!

Posted by Frank Coconate on January 28, 2009 at 3:44 PM | Report this comment
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The school in Bensenville are a joke under Mayor Geils. Geils is a fukin joke!

Posted by Big Pimp on January 28, 2009 at 4:19 PM | Report this comment
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that's a lot of links back to your own stuff, ben -- but your point about loyalty being primary is well taken. about that stimulus money, though, my guess is that most of it is going to go to fill budget holes, not to create new, er, funding opportunities. shameless plug for my chicago schools blog, www.district299.com, which covers education news all day every day.

Posted by alexander on January 28, 2009 at 5:18 PM | Report this comment
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"that's a lot of links back to your own stuff, ben...." Thanks, Ben, those links are very helpful to those of us readers who haven't been kept informed of the truth by the 'major' media, aka whores working for the daley machine. In fact, it's a shame that there's not a broadcast media outlet in this city, or county, willing to provide you with the opportunity to regularly share the many truths you've discovered during your tenure at the Reader, it would make for some very interesting viewing. As for "...my guess is that most of it is going to go to fill budget holes...", before making the assumption that those 'holes' need filling, it must first be determined which parts of the budget are really being expended on authentic services in the public interest, and which parts are not.

Posted by re alex on January 28, 2009 at 6:13 PM | Report this comment
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I guess that proposed Gay Oriented High School that was in the news last month is back on the drawing board..... But seriously, everyone that says an "educator" must run the schools must not have been around when the "educators" messed up the schools. Ruth Love, Manford Byrd, Ted Kimbrough, Charles Almo, Joseph Hannon, Angeline Caruso all had Doctorates of Education degrees and took the Chicago Public Schools into the toilet. CPS needs a manager to run the business side and an educator to run the class side. Having an educator running the whole thing is a recipe for disaster, as we have previously seen in this City. Having a manager run it with an able educator at his side is a better formula. At most successful private hospitals (and more and more teaching/university hospitals), the CEO is typically not a Physician or MD, but an MBA with business experience. And although some restaurants are run by Chef's, for the most part, financially successful ones are run by business people and the celebrity chef is left in the kitchen. And a good salesman with a lot of experience and success selling a company's wares does not necessarily make that person the idea candidate to be the Sales Manager for the business. Front line, practical experience has its place, but does not mean it should be the end all qualifier.

Posted by Orion on January 28, 2009 at 10:14 PM | Report this comment
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he corrupt hacks that rule this city ,view the CPS as a business,with education being on the back burner. We need an elected school board,instead of the rubber stamp freaks. Also we need term limits for county,city and state officials. We need full disclosure for service and professional contracts

Posted by Spin for Daley on January 28, 2009 at 11:52 PM | Report this comment
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Re: ORion the reason the Cps has problems is because the People that run the Board are not Elected but appointed by the mayor. Cps doesn't need a business manager they need a educator elected that knows how to govern the system and has previous experience doing so within a educational system. IE Dr.Wayne Watson of city colleges of Chicago.Research shows that elected members of the board of education in other cities,states etc. Are successful and provide results. They are held accountable by the people if not they are voted out! Did you know that the Board of education approved Huberman already? Who do you think appoints the members of the board?

Posted by Chris on January 29, 2009 at 5:33 AM | Report this comment
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Re:running a business and running a school distict are different. That is why educational programs such the type 75 adminstration and supervision blends education with business. So therefore, to place a person with MBA with no. Educational experience is disrespectful to the craft and to those that had spend decades in the system and know how to run a educational instituation. Pardon for the typos small keyboard

Posted by Chris on January 29, 2009 at 5:43 AM | Report this comment
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Re: you're mixing apples oranges and pears when you compare and educational system with private hospital and a restaurant. Hint PRIVATE. The bottom line the mayor is trying to break the union and filter money for his contracts. That is why he lobbied to have the law change so that he was able to replace the superindentant position with CEO.because a superindentant by law was required to have a education degree! It doesn't make any sense for a Chief education officer to report to a Chief exective officer it should be the other way around. Cps is a PUBLIC institution not a private charter. Do you see where this going.? Would you want a business educating your child? Businesses are profit driven. As a teacher would you want to work for a business that will deny you lunch etc. It happens in these charter schools READ court cases regarding KIPP.

Posted by Tony on January 29, 2009 at 5:59 AM | Report this comment
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RE: Spin - we have a mechanism for limiting the term of office, it is called an election and they occur every four years (6 for US Senators, 2 for US Congressman). If things were as bad as you say, the people have an opportunity to vote out incumbents, which they have done in the past (Bush I, Bilandic, Percy, Byrne, Tillman, etc, etc). Just because the people will not vote out the Mayor does not mean the system does not work. Chris - if you think that Wayne Watson is really running anything I have some swampland in Arizona to sell you. Besides, the City Colleges is nowhere on the scale of the CPS. To take the higher education example, although it is an apples to oranges comparison, most major universities do not have former lecturers or professors as the head of the College. They may be Deans/Vice Chancellors, etc. but rarely the head of the University. As I said, previous Type 75 Certificate holders brought the system to financial shutdown, labor unrest and a laughing stock of the nation. Since the Mayor has taken over the CPS, there have been no strikes nor shutdowns for financial reasons. If the ivory tower folks do not like it, it must be for a reason other than for the good of the children.

Posted by Orion on January 29, 2009 at 6:04 AM | Report this comment
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Re: the problem with the previous supts of Chicago was funding partly. Also the reason there are no strikes is because the mayor runs the system like a dictator ship. The me abreak Illinois is 48 out of 5o when it comes to education and cps is by far worst. What has cps gained since the mayor took over? Nothing but closed schools and more failrue and charters.Watson does run ccc, he has done a great job by improving that system into one of the best in the country. Before he took over there was slot of mismanagement not geared towards education. So you don't know from which you speak. Do your homework!!

Posted by Chris on January 29, 2009 at 6:14 AM | Report this comment
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Who will be the next lapdog to run the CTA? My guess: Fran Spielman

Posted by Just wondering on January 29, 2009 at 6:50 AM | Report this comment
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Daley might as well put the 14 year old wanna be cop in the position. Huberman is no different.

Posted by Jodi on January 29, 2009 at 9:24 AM | Report this comment
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Daley is not interested in educating minority and children coming from working class families in Chicago. The man has been Mayor for too long and needs to be voted out; his style of politics is out dated. I'm glad the commercial and residential real estate bust hit Chicago so Daley and the developers can slow his gentrification process to a halt. Moving the poor and working class out of Chicago with higher taxes will not solve your problems Mr. Daley. How about investing in human capital with good schools, then Chicago can have something it's known for besides having corrupt politicians and high murder rates. Mr. Daley people are tires of you; please go away!

Posted by SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE on January 29, 2009 at 9:58 AM | Report this comment
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from the comments on: http://secondcitycop.blogspot.com/ "To all civilians from a civilian, Let's talk manners... 1) This is a cop blog for cops by cops usually about cops, so try and leave it to the cops. Occasional posts that are supportive or concerning the topic of the day, are tolerable, but don't overstep. 2) Identify yourself as a civilian, the cops will know it anyways, but its just polite to say it. 3) Expect a certain amount of shit when you do post, 'your a civilian', but you'll also be surprised to find out that you can get some pretty insightful, decent comments back. 4) Don't be lazy, if you don't know what something means and it really means a lot to you to know what it means, spend some time and go through the blogs or maybe other internet resources to find out. Understand that you won't know who everyone referenced is, but with a little research you can figure out who the more noteworthy players are. For instance, when the 'Burger King' moniker appeared a while back, I thought, what the hell is this about. Within one minute I was able to find an official statement from the CPD about what this was all about, and within five minutes, I had found where she probably got the idea to try something so asinine, (Did she really think a special education exercise in team building for mentally challenged young adults learning to live together in a group home could be used to resolve gang warfare, well, I guess she did, but if this was the highpoint of her career and example of her leadership, then the people she serves, are really fucked aren’t they, I digress) Don’t be lazy, try and figure it out yourself, or understand there are things you won’t know, 5) Enjoy this site, its probably one of the best for political scoops, and can be very funny, although understand that gallows, dark humor may pervade simply because of the nature of the profession. 6) If you are like me, and things you read about here piss you off, as a civilian, as a citizen its your job to get involved. Demand that your elected officials do something about whatever it is that gets you worked up. Why do we have such a dismal appalling situation in Chicago with the Police Department? Why is morale so low that de-policing has happened? Well, mainly its because, civilians who have allowed elected and their appointed leadership get away with it. So if you are surprised to learn that homeless people are allowed to live in a police station, go there, and give the person in charge some shit about, not the people at the desk who are victims of the decision, but the person in the office that is allowing the situation to happen. Ask your alderman why a station is allowed to be a shelter, bring it up wherever and whenever you can. Don’t let a small group of Reverends run things and keep things shitty because that’s their bread and butter. The silent majority must now step up to the plate. I feel the biggest problem right now is not the Police itself, it’s us, the civilians, who have not supported the police. There are too many people being very quiet about this, and it really affects a lot of the quality of life in our city. Hold on HOLD ON!! What the fuck was I thinking,,, I forgot this is Chicago. Make any waves and they’ll inspect your house or business costing you thousands, go into the stations and try and talk to a commander, fat chance of that happening... Listen up, just move the hell out to someplace where things are better. If you have kids, you’ll really be better off. 1/29/2009 09:01:00 AM"

Posted by calling all citizens on January 29, 2009 at 10:51 AM | Report this comment
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Speaking of people who are hooked up--who is Reggie in the Water Dept?

Posted by Sable on January 29, 2009 at 2:13 PM | Report this comment
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Tony: Nothing is wrong with PRIVATE. The most successful schools in the City are private (Latin, Parker, Lab, Morgan Park Academy). The CPS should take their example.

Posted by Orion on January 30, 2009 at 5:13 AM | Report this comment
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I my above statement, I used the word tires instead of tired, but who gives a fuck; I'm a product of CPS. Shit, the readers should sympathize when reading my post.

Posted by SINGLE PAYER HEALTHCARE on January 30, 2009 at 11:20 PM | Report this comment

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