Huberman to Destroy Schools

Not that they weren't on the verge of collapse anyway, it's just that someone is giving them a couple of good kicks to see what falls off the rotting corpse:

• The Chicago Board of Education today granted schools chief Ron Huberman authority to lay off teachers and increase class sizes, a procedural move that was met with fierce resistance from union groups.

It may all be a show though:

• The threat of class sizes of up to 35 students next fall has loomed for months due to an estimated $600 million budget deficit for Chicago Public Schools. However, more than half of the deficit comes from state cuts to education funding, which could be restored when Springfield passes a final budget.

Either Shortshanks is running a bluff, counting on Springfield to come up with the dough at the last minute, or he's making Huberman the stalking horse for a full scale attack on the Teachers' Union.

Right now, we figure it's door #2, the full scale attack. And he's got the perfect tool to carry it out - a non-educator who's managed to move from city job to city job, collecting pay raises every step of the way and leaving nothing resembling progress in his wake. Even the BreakingNews headline names Huberman as getting "the OK" to launch the offensive.

And why not? Shortshanks dragged a whole bunch of unions back to the table after the No-lympic failure for concessions, he's ordered managers and exempts to take anywhere from 12 to 30 to 40 days off, he won in arbitration with the FOP, so why not see what he can wring out of the teachers? It's not like anyone gets hurt except minority children - and they probably would have gotten shot anyway.

Whichever way it goes, Daley is making Huberman radioactive for any sort of elected office, which might be another part of the plan.