Interview Questions

You wrote a blog post on June 1st 2015 titled "The school board's moment of insight on charters," in which you described you the Chi B of E postponed a decision on allowing Noble Street Charter Schools to open a new school in Uptown. This after vocal opposition from the community, which included parents of existing neighborhood school students and 47th ward Ald. Amaya Pawar.

Proponents of charter schools, one of whom is Gov. Rauner, say that charter schools are important to have because parents want and should have more choices as to where to send their kids. What's wrong with that argument?

Let's talk about budget for a minute. What is CPS annual budget?
a. How much of that does it spend on charters? What exactly is that expense for?
b. Some charter operators, such as UNO, have their own schools. Others rent school buildings owned by CPS, correct? Any idea if that generates income for CPS?
c. Where was Noble going to open a school in Uptown?

Blog post on May 28th 2015, "Thanking Chicago's school children for their sacrifice": You wrote about the sale of the Willis Tower by a private consortium to a private equity firm for a reported profit of about $460 million. You wrote that the city granted United Airlines about $24 million in 2009 for costs associated with moving its Elk Grove Village operations HQ into the Willis Tower. Help me out here: United rents its space in Willis Tower, correct? So that TIF money essentially paid for improvements to the building, which adds value for the building owners?

Teachers at Oriole Park Elementary school (NW side) filed a grievance around filthy classrooms, cuz contracted janitors have too much to do. A CPS hearing officer ruled against the grievance. Where is it now?