Raises to the CPS Brass? How is THAT possible?

I am a news whore. That should be of no surprise to anyone. I watch it all- Liberal, Conservative, Empathetic, Infuriating- whatever. I follow the news all day long. I am "that" friend that will know what has happened before anyone else. I pride myself on it. I LOVE it. If I am shocked by some news, I better had been in a coma because I am addicted to my Blackberry and news on the computer, which I sit in front of almost all day. So, when I read the following on my BlackBerry screen early this morning, I thought I was hallucinating. I turned on the local news and there it was again- no hallucinating on my part... cue the anger. Seriously, rage and it was way more than what I feel just because I haven't had my morning coffee. I.am.pissed.

What has me in a pissed off mood? If you ask the right person, he might say "everything" (lol) but the following had my face go to "the look" this morning: "Amid Cuts, CPS Brass to Get Raises." WTF???? I did some investigation (I am good for that) and here is what I found: The Director of Sports will get a $6K raise, the CPS spokesperson will get a 17% raise and the CEO will get a 13% raise. There are several reasons why I am pissed about this. In no particular order:

1. just over a month ago CPS CEO Ron Huberman said that Chicago Public Schools were facing a $1BILLION deficit. But he can get a raise? With this bump in salary, he will be getting paid $230K, to lead a broke school district? Damn, I need that job!

2. The Director of Sports is getting a raise?? Really? Because last month CPS removed all sophomore sports from schools. So, let me get this right: the number of sports available to students DEcreases and the guy in charge of sports for the school district gets an INcrease in salary. Wow.

3. I don't know what the spokesperson for the school district does. I mean, is it her job to deny all things that go on in schools and say "no comment" when people get hurt or there is a lawsuit? If so, again, I would love to have that job- for $130K. None of the 3 people getting a raise are in the classroom dealing with students all day; none of them look students in the face and tell them that their favorite teacher is being fired, or that they won't be able to participate in sports. Nope, the people getting the raises have the cushy jobs and hand down the hard verdicts.

4. I don't think that ANYONE in charge of CPS should get a raise until the graduation rates for CPS students increase. In 2006 only 52.2% of all students enrolled in CPS graduated. That is like an F-. That year CPS was the third largest school district in the country and had the best graduation rate out of the largest 5 school districts, but that is not saying much. (The 5 largest school districts are: NYC, Los Angeles, Chicago, Miami-Dade County and Broward County.) So, for an F- the people in charge get paid more money??

5. Definitely not the least of the problems that CPS is dealing with: teachers are getting laid off. Are you kidding me? Who the hell thought that THIS was the proper time to hand out raises? Why doesn't Ron Huberman give his raise to save the salary of one teacher? OMG, all three of them could give their salary increases to save jobs. If every one of them is making more than 100K wouldn't it make sense to forego the raise for THIS year? Wouldn't that be the proper thing to do in a district where everyone is suffering? Nope- that would obviously be too much like right.

If I ever (mistakenly) have children :), they will never, ever go to a CPS school. I will take out a second mortgage on my house (in the hood- with the terrible neighbors) or sell it all together for a private school education. I don't have any children in CPS, and it sincerely burns me up to see my tax dollars being spent so irresponsibly- especially during an economic time when EVERYone should be concerned with efficient/productive use of funds. Am I the only one who thinks that this is ridiculous? Can't be! Email me or comment and let me know your thoughts.

Miss Mox

Oh Sarah, get that foot out of your mouth...

LOL. Sarah Palin has done more than upset me with her lies... she has upset the Community Organizers across the country. They want an apology... rightly so. Let's see if she jumps off that pedestal and gives them one. ** At the end of this article are the truths that I posted yesterday. I have omitted them for space, but feel free to visit the site, or scroll down.**


http://www.eurweb.com/story/eur46797.cfm
*Numerous lines in Gov. Sarah Palin's speech at the GOP convention Wednesday night have been exposed as lies by various media outlets. But one of her quips struck a nerve that has galvanized grassroots organizations across the country to respond en masse.
During the convention on Wednesday, the former mayor of Wasilla (population 7,000) took a jab at Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama with the line: “I guess a small-town mayor is sort of like a community organizer, except that you have actual responsibilities.”
Her sentiments were reinforced in two earlier speeches on the convention floor Wednesday in St. Paul.
• Former Governor George Pataki said: “[Barack Obama] was a community organizer. What in God’s name is a community organizer? I don’t even know if that’s a job.”
• Former Mayor Rudy Giuliani said: “On the other hand, you have a resume from a gifted man with an Ivy League education. He worked as a community organizer. What? [Laughter]…I said, OK, OK, maybe this is the first problem on the resume.”
In the wee hours of the following morning, Obama's campaign sent an e-mail to supporters objecting – among other things – to the attacks against community organizers. It read:
Let's clarify something for them right now.
Community organizing is how ordinary people respond to out-of-touch politicians and their failed policies.
And it's no surprise that, after eight years of George Bush, millions of people have found that by coming together in their local communities they can change the course of history. That promise is what our campaign has been about from the beginning.
Throughout our history, ordinary people have made good on America's promise by organizing for change from the bottom up. Community organizing is the foundation of the civil rights movement, the women's suffrage movement, labor rights, and the 40-hour workweek. And it's happening today in church basements and community centers and living rooms across America.
Also on Thursday, a coalition of community organizers across the country launched the Web site OrganizersFightBack. (http://organizersfightback.wordpress.com/) to demand an apology from Gov. Palin and to "defend their work organizing Americans who have been left behind by unemployment, lack of health insurance and the national housing crisis."
• “Community organizers work in neighborhoods that have been hit hardest by the failing economy,” said John Raskin, founder of Community Organizers of America and a community organizer on the West Side of Manhattan. “The last thing we need is for Republican officials to mock us on television when we’re trying to rebuild the neighborhoods they have destroyed. Maybe if everyone had more houses than they can count, we wouldn’t need community organizers. But I work with people who are getting evicted from their only home. If John McCain and the Republicans understood that, maybe they wouldn’t be so quick to make fun of community organizers like me.”
• David Gonzalez of the New York Times has posted a column, Bronx Organizers React to G.O.P. Punchlines, featuring the work of two past local community organizers still active in the neighborhoods.
• Also, this entry on the Huffington Post features the Center for Community Change's official response to the remarks.