Welcome to the Chi, Mr. Superintendent. As I understand it, you’re everything mayor-elect Emanuel wants in a schools CEO—tough, brash, and eager to beat the crap out of teachers. Rock on!
You see, in Chicago we’ve got this thing called the tax incrementing financing program, which diverts at least $250 million a year from the schools and turns it over to the mayor.
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When it comes to being the big man at the school board, you’re pretty much free to do whatever you want—closing schools, firing teachers, rewriting curriculum, doling out contracts to your favorite charters—so long as you don’t touch the TIFs. In fact, you’d be better off not even knowing how the program works. That way you can claim plausible deniability—the “Oh my god, you must be kidding!” defense—in the event that voters, feds, aliens from Mars, or anyone else ever gets around to holding the powers that be accountable for this ongoing scam.
You may hear murmurs about a fledgling movement in the state general assembly to reform the program, but I don’t think your boss, the mayor-elect, will join it. Why should he? The program has worked well for the old mayor—the Daley fellow you may have read about. The other taxing bodies—the parks, county, the school system you get to run—give him their money and he gets to spend it.
I can understand if you find this confusing. There’s really nothing like the Chicago TIF program anywhere in the free world. Yes, there are TIFs in other states, including New York. But your home state bars schools from sending money to the TIF kitty. They can’t do it even if they want to. What a funny concept: forcing schools to spend their money on schools.
As you know, in Chicago the mayor appoints members of the board of education and they hire whomever he wants as schools CEO. In short, the mayor controls everyone and everything. In fact, the board of education is so obedient that the seven sitting members agreed to resign voluntarily so Emanuel could appoint seven replacements.
