Potter teaches at Little Village Lawndale High School and is Co-Chair of CORE.
Huberman says he needs major union concessions to balance the budget this year, and that sets up a scenario in which the district will ask teachers to pick their poison: Agree not to fight pension changes, concede to larger class sizes or give up their 4 percent raises. Eliminating contractual raises would save about $169 million; increasing class sizes to 31 would mean a loss of 600 teaching positions and save only $40 million.
But Stewart faces a tough re-election campaign this spring. In fact, her union caucus recently lost two seats on the Pension Board to the new, hard-line caucus called CORE (the Caucus of Rank and File Educators). It was a major victory for CORE, whose members say the Pension Board needs better watchdogs to protect it from a cash-starved district administration and prevent mismanagement. CORE still lacks a majority on the Pension Board, however.
CORE Co-Chair Jackson Potter says the Pension Board has already made several important changes under new leadership. Lawsuits have been filed to recoup losses from some investment groups, he notes, and the board is squashing investments it has with companies that support charter schools.
In Potter’s book, Huberman’s budget announcement amounts to little more than scare tactics. That position suggests a tough political road ahead for district officials seeking concessions from the Pension Board and elsewhere.
Before asking teachers to support pension relief or any other compromises, Potter wants the district to cut a number of controversial reform programs, such as the Office of School Turnarounds and Huberman’s signature performance management initiative. Such cuts could save the district upwards of $70 million, he estimates.
He also wants Huberman and Mayor Richard Daley to consider directing tax-increment financing revenues toward the deficit. (TIF funds are diverted from schools and other local taxing bodies to stimulate business development, but critics say the creation of TIF districts has contributed to budget problems facing the schools and the rest of the city.)
Potter admits more savings are needed, but “the fact that [Huberman] hasn’t put any of this on the table shows you what his priorities are.”
