The Return of The Chicagoist Reader Meet-Up
Cubs Combat Casino
Notre Dame Fan Takes It Too Far, Allegedly Punches Clausen
County Sales Tax Rollback Vetoed - Here We Go Again
PHOTOS: Peaches And Amanda Blank At Metro
According to a report from the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, one out of every four US bridges is "deficient, either in need of repair or in need of widening to handle today's traffic." [AP, report]
Robert Smigel on Fresh Air. [NPR]
A Logan Square woman was apparently doused with some kind of toxic liquid as part of an apparent robbery. She's in serious condition. [WBBM]
Some aldermen are skeptical of the mayor's proposed new trash-hauling plan. [S-T]
State Senator Rev. James Meeks is calling on CPS high-school students to skip the first day of school and instead spend the day trying to enroll at New Trier High School in Winnetka. [CBS 2]
Cake Wrecks might be my new favorite blog. Highlights: birthing cake, "comguadulations," "it a girl."
If you haven't read this story yet, you should. "We were told that Steven Kazmierczak, who killed five students and then himself at Northern Illinois University in February, was a sweet, unassuming, overachieving grad student who inexplicably snapped. He was not." [Esquire]
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Logan Square is just getting crazier and crazier everyday...and I'm a reputed mob hitman. That's saying something...
that cake says "it a gril". even worse.
This is a pretty ridiculous mixture of links provided in a batch.
Does Senator Meeks realize that the CPS students are actually getting MORE state funding than the New Trier students? I'm not pro-burbs, but if the houses have a higher taxable income than the houses in the city, then of course there will be more money going to school districts where the property values are higher. I'm sure Senator Meeks is an intelligent man, but he's in a position to help change the law if he wants the state's laws to change regarding how school districts are funded. This isn't the way to make change happen however.
I'm going to keep a look out for the people who threw the acid at that woman. The tribune has clear video of the three attackers - two of them women - running down the street after the incident.
Luckily for others it seems like there was a connection between the attackers and the attacked so this might not be the start of acid-to-the-face female muggings in the neighborhood.
I encourgage everyone who lives in Logans Square to watch the Tribune video and keep a look out.
Yeah, there's a connection. The connection is that houses in Winnetka have higher property values. It's got nothing to do with skin color.
If Meeks want so raise legitimate questions about whether home values are the appropriate basis for determining school funding, then go for it. But using kids as pawns in his stupid race-bating game is beyond insulting.
Someone might also want to let Meeks know that funding levels for CPS are based on headcount, specifically, DAY ONE headcount. So by encouraging Chicago students to spend their first day of school somewhere else, he's actually ensuring that there'll be even LESS money next year.
Brilliant, as always.
Second paragraph should read:
"If Meeks wants to raise..."
That poor woman. . who does that?
OPH marketing you need to stop hate'n on the fact that Rev. Sen. Dr. Meeks's congregation brought him a Lear Jet paid for with "love offereings". Get your own congregation.
p.s oh and there most certainly is a race connection with CPS schools, but its got every thing to do with the Daley Administration, not State school funding. But aint no body gone take on big bad Daley, Not Jesse, Not Meeks, no body
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic with your second remark, Spook, but the fact that CPS schools aren't funded at the same levels as other districts really has nothing to do with race (unless you want to go down the 'all minorities are poor and all white people are rich' road, which I don't think we do). And it for sure has nothing to do with Mayor Daley.
It's a simple matter of property values. Higher property values=higer property taxes=higher school funding. Personally, I'm not a fan of linking property values to school funding, as it leads to just this sort in inequity. But that's not Meeks' crusade.
I can't tell if you're being sarcastic with your second remark, Spook, but the fact that CPS schools aren't funded at the same levels as other districts really has nothing to do with race (unless you want to go down the 'all minorities are poor and all white people are rich' road, which I don't think we do). And it for sure has nothing to do with Mayor Daley.
It's a simple matter of property values. Higher property values=higer property taxes=higher school funding. Personally, I'm not a fan of linking property values to school funding, as it leads to just this sort in inequity. But that's not Meeks' crusade.
Yes it does marketing, CPS is not high on Daley's list because of who it serves. Of course its also not high on Meek's list either because if it was he would not be tossing around smoke screens
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the per-pupil spending factored on how much taxes residents are paying? Aren't New Trier students getting more 'per-pupil' because residents are paying more? There are suburbs where people pay less for certain government services, but have to pay for other services that have been privatized. Isn't Winnetka basically enjoying a better educational system because they're using an economic blueprint different than Chicago?
I don't believe Daley gives a shit about CPS anymore, but I also believe Meeks is just making a symbolic gesture that will yield no results whatsoever.
"economic blueprint different than Chicago"
yea see the article of Rickey Hendon stealing money from the State Board marked for poor kids in Chicago to get tutors. Where is Meeks on this? How come O'Bama is all about talking on how Pookie and Peaches needed to be responsible, but when the very politicans and ministers who are suppose to be protecting Pookie and Peaches steal what little resources they have, then O'bama aint got nothing to say
It is nice to hear from Rev Meeks again he has not been in the news lately. Maybe Meeks should look at the length of the school day in Chicago and the length of the school year in chicago as the reason that the schools are underperforming. Both are shorter than national avg.The differnces between the home life of the New Trier students and the chicago students also may have a big effect on test scores.I would love to see education better funded but some structural changes need to be made in the CPS for students to become more succesful.