INCREASING CLASS SIZE KEY TO SOLVING CPS FISCAL WOES

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CHICAGO—The Chicago Board of Education can help homeowners avoid another massive property tax increase by shedding thousands of teachers, according to the president of one of the country’s largest taxpayer organizations.

“Laying-off a few thousand teachers and increasing class size would greatly help balance the books,” said Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA).

For the 2018-2019 school year, CPS reported 37,375 staff positions including 21,334 teachers and 511 principals.

“Private schools have traditionally had larger class sizes than government schools, and they have done a much better job of educating their students,” said Tobin. “The teachers’ union wants to decrease class size in order to make more teaching positions necessary. It’s a power grab, and the added teachers will not increase student achievement.”

“In addition to larger class sizes, overpaid physical education teachers should be among the first to go. Gym, art and music classes should be made optional, so that only those students with the necessary talent can take advantage of them.”

“Study after study has established that there is no appreciable correlation between class size and academic achievement. For example, in 2018 the Campbell Collaboration, a Norwegian research group reviewed 127 studies on class size. Their research shows that small class sizes had little to no improvement to student performance.”

“The class-size myth is perpetuated by the union bosses and their legislative cronies to increase the number of union jobs for both teachers and laborers. It is a scam to extract even more taxpayer wealth from the pockets of the middle class,” said Tobin.

“Chicago homeowners can’t afford another property tax increase in order to inflate teacher-union membership. It’s time to lay-off several thousand teachers and increase class size. This would be a significant step toward stabilizing city and CPS finances.”

Give Chicago Teachers Pink Slips

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CHICAGO—The financially troubled Chicago Public Schools (CPS) should lay-off scores of teachers and significantly increase class size to save money, according to the president of one of the nation’s largest taxpayer organizations.

 “Study after study has established that there is no appreciable correlation between class size and academic achievement,” said Jim Tobin, President of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). CPS is on the brink of financial collapse, and its administrators need to bite the bullet and start laying-off teachers. The resulting larger class sizes will not affect academic performance and will save taxpayers millions of dollars. It is obscene to advocate raising property taxes once more on overburdened Chicago homeowners.”

 Stanford economist Eric Hanushek’s study on class size is the gold standard on this topic. He looked at the best studies and found that 89% of the studies show either no statistically significant advantage or a significant negative effect to smaller classes.

 A Cato Institute study reports that the average American classroom has gotten substantially smaller over the past 40 years (by about 7 students) but achievement at the end of high school is essentially flat . A Harvard study by researchers Antonio Wendland and Matthew Chingos reported in 2010 that Florida’s statewide class size reduction had “no discernible impact upon student achievement,” but has so far cost the state roughly $28 billion.

The Chicago Teacher’s Union (CTU) has been pushing for smaller class sizes, claiming that smaller class sizes will improve student achievement. According to the Illinois Policy Institute, the CTU even authored a report on the topic, asking the Chicago City Council to divert $170 million of the $351 million set aside for charter school expansion in 2012 toward reducing average class sizes from 28 to 20 students.

 “This class-size myth is perpetuated by the union bosses and their legislative cronies to increase the number of union jobs for both teachers and laborers. It is a scam to extract even more taxpayer wealth from the pockets of the middle class,” added Tobin.

 “Chicago homeowners can’t afford another property tax increase in order to swell teacher-union membership. It’s time to lay-off teachers and increase class size. This would be a significant step toward stabilizing CPS finances.”

GOV. PRITZKER ORCHESTRATES REGRESSIVE TAXES ON MIDDLE CLASS AND POOR

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The president of Illinois’ largest taxpayer organization today issued a statement condemning Gov. Jay Robert “J. B.” Pritzker for betraying Illinois’ middle class and poor by significantly raising gasoline and cigarette taxes.

“Illinois’ corpulent con-man Pritzker has pushed these cruel and destructive tax increases on the state’s middle class and poor,” said Jim Tobin, president of Taxpayers United of America (TUA). “While middle class taxpayers struggle to make ends meet, the bloated $45 billion ‘infrastructure’ spending package passed is a payoff to the state’s labor unions that feed the Democrat machine. Adding insult to injury, the legislators that passed these massive tax increase will get a pay raise of $1,600 annually.”

“Retired state employees are literally becoming pension millionaires on the backs of workers in the private sector who are funding these lavish, gold-plated pensions with their taxes. In the meantime, these private sector workers, many of whom are losing their retirement plans, must pay a lot more for gasoline and cigarettes.”

“The state’s residents who are poor are the most affected by the enormous, regressive tax increases on these items.”

“The doubling of the state’s 19-cent-per-gallon motor fuel tax to 38 cents, higher fees for license plates and driver’s licenses, a 15% tax on e-cigarettes. and the $1-per-pack cigarette tax hike on the current $1.98 state tax are outrageous.”

“It’s time Illinois voters woke up to how much they are being ripped-off by Pritzker and his fellow Springfield tax-raisers for the benefit of special interests.”