The I word

This week, it wasn't CPS's bond rating that was downgraded. Instead, four years of inflated graduation rates were "adjusted" to discount the quick fixes, like numbers manipulation, that district schools engaged in. Such data-driven solutions tricks included drop-outs being coded as transfers or home-schooled. Whoops.

Then, CPS staff received an oddly congratulatory email from Forrest + Janice in their inboxes tonight. It said, in part:

"This week, you accomplished something that CPS has never done before: helped our students score a record high 18.2 on the ACT test. 

These results aren’t a coincidence, and they certainly aren’t a mistake. These accomplishments are the result of the years of hard work you’ve dedicated to our children, beginning in Pre-K through high school."

It would be nice to think that scores from the ACT are ironclad; however, this is the same company that sent CPS tests to give students that were previously available on the internet. Meaning, results from the tests freshmen and sophomores took were thrown out because some students had artificially inflated scores. 

Nope, no coincidences or mistakes here! As you were everyone!

Forrest Claypool, Angry Liar

The Better Government Association's Sarah Karp published an op-ed in Monday's Sun Times noting the disparity between the funding of charter and neighborhood schools.

Many differences are noted, but an $11M increase in charter funding with a $146M reduction in funding to neighborhood schools stands out. Within Karp's report, mayoral puppet Emily Bittner calls such comparisons "apples to oranges" because of projected versus actual spending.

Forrest Claypool, feeling the apples to oranges deflection insufficient, has a tantrum in the Letters page. He whines:

"A column published in the Sun-Times this week from the Better Government Association uses faulty math to make wild and inaccurate generalizations about charter and neighborhood school funding."

Faulty math? Perhaps Claypool hopes readers will overlook the city's pension theft and botched contracts.

Wild and inaccurate generalizations?Claypool mustn't have read any comments to any article published about the CTU's contract negotiations in the Tribune

He pontificates:
"Using flawed analysis, the story also falsely claims that neighborhood schools citywide will receive $146 million less than last year." 

Claypool never specifices what is flawed about the analysis, nor does he provide a figure he feels is accurate.

He states the fucking obvious:
"...funding is increasing at both neighborhood and charter schools experiencing rising enrollment and declining at schools with fewer enrolling students."

Thanks for providing the definition of Student-Based-Budgeting, Sherlock.

He parrots Rahm's talking points:
Parent choice. Check! Budget deficit. Check! Pension mandates. Check!

Claypool then has the stones to moralize about transparency:
"In fact, Chicago Public Schools has a transparent and navigable database of school spending information online so that any member of the public can evaluate the data themselves..."

Sure, we trust whatever is online.

Repeat after us: We. Are. Not. Idiots.

Forrest Claypool, Still A Liar

Sun Times, August 10, 2015: 

"CPS already had announced $200 million in spending cuts, including $1 million in cuts from schools CEO Forrest Claypool’s executive office."

“Our goal is to protect pensions and to protect the classroom,” Claypool said during a conference call Monday morning. “To do that, it means everybody’s got to pitch in.”

Sun Times, August 11, 2015:

"In what’s likely to be a blueprint of his plan for the Chicago Teachers Union, Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool will announce Wednesday that the district will no longer pick up pension contributions for its nonunion central office employees."

The pension flip-flop didn't take long. What about the $1M in cuts from the CEO's office?

Tribune, August 21, 2015:

"Chicago Public Schools chief Forrest Claypool has hired another of his former staff members from the CTA, this time an executive charged with oversight of the district's financial operations.

Ronald DeNard, formerly the CTA's chief financial officer, joins CPS on Friday as senior vice president of finance, according to an email Claypool distributed Thursday.

Each of the district's finance-related divisions will report to DeNard, Claypool said in the email. Those responsibilities were previously handled by Chief Administrative Officer Tim Cawley."

Oversight of the district's financial operations? Ginger Ostro, Chief Financial Officer, would be the person who oversees the district's finances. One would assume DeNard will collect a similar $205,000 salary that he earned at the CTA to take up space in CPS management.

If it sounds like Tim Cawley is out the door, don't get too excited. He'll continue his accounting and contractual fuck-ups with seven other departments he oversees:

"Cawley, a former Motorola executive hired by Mayor Rahm Emanuel in 2011, will continue to supervise seven other administrative departments, according to Claypool's email...Cawley, who is paid $215,000 a year, oversees areas including facilities, food services and technology."

The other CTA hangers-on coming over to CPS:

• Doug Kucia - Claypool's Chief of Staff
• Andrell Holloway - Supervisor of Internal Audits
• Hal Woods - Portfolio Planning and Strategy Director

Six-figure bureaucrats moving from one city organization to another isn't "pitching in." If each of these managers will make a comparable salary at CPS, that's $800,000 back of the $1M cuts Claypool was crowing about ten days ago.

Once again, Forrest, you may think teachers are idiots, but we're not.

Forrest Claypool, Liar

Forrest Claypool -- Rahm's new appointed CEO of CPS and former President of the CTA (during the diastrous 2013 Ventra rollout) -- sent CPS teachers and staff a recent email.  As teachers, we feel compelled to make a few corrections:

Claypool writes: "We are honored and humbled to lead this tremendous team as we work together to make sure every child from every community in Chicago gets the opportunity for a great education."

• Should read:  We are gratified to have the opportunity to work with Rahm's appointed business-people to make sure that every racketeer from every ed tran$formation project in Chicago gets the opportunity to generate profit and to vilify the CTU while remaining free from the meddling of actual public educators.

Claypool writes: "CPS students have made enormous progress in the classroom over the last four years, and our students are improving because you have dedicated your professional life to ensuring that they reach their full potential."

• Should read: CPS students have remained the same in the classroom over the last four years, and yet are able to provide the illusion of enormous progress because of effective grade and attendance manipulation.

Claypool writes:  "Our current fiscal crisis is the direct result of an unfair state pension system."

• Should read:  Our current fiscal crisis is the direct result of the theft of teachers' pension funds -- funds which teachers themselves dutifully generated for over 20 years -- and of intentionally creating lucrative debt to benefit our cronies.

Forrest, you and Rahm go together like peas and carrots.