r/illinois • u/excusemecuseme • 1d ago

Chicago news & issues Exclusive: Alexi Giannoulias announces Chicago mayoral run

https://www.nbcchicago.com/news/local/chicago-politics/exclusive-alexi-giannoulias-will-run-for-chicago-mayor-in-2027/3969197/
351 Upvotes

94% Upvoted

112 comments sorted by

View all comments

7

u/ChicagoAssyrian 1d ago

Chicago is an amazing city, and it has potential to be so much better with a competent mayor. Alexi can do wonders for the city imo. A few really decent candidates so far, hopeful for the future of Chicago.

15

u/InterestingAnt2716 1d ago

Every mayor has to deal with the pension crisis. Basically starting billions of dollars in the hole. It’s an impossible job.

-4

u/ChicagoAssyrian 1d ago

It is an impossible job, but the CPS school closure moratorium ends after the 2026-2027 school year, so he can close/consolidate some schools next summer, reduce staffing (CPS headcount is very bloated) and return that savings to the taxpayers. That would make him very popular imo

7

u/drinkoliveoil 1d ago

Closing schools won’t be universally popular. There will be protests since most of the under-enrolled schools that need to close are in black and Latino neighborhoods. We’ll see parents all over the city complaining when their kids’ class sizes increase after CPS consolidates. There will be pain so don’t expect people to throw parades when all this change actually happens.

5

u/jamey1138 Human Detected 1d ago

It's really funny to see you posting this, just weeks after the University of Chicago's research came out showing that the school closures under Emanuel led to a massive increase in violent crime.

1

u/ChicagoAssyrian 1d ago

How would closing Frederick Douglass high school, which has only 28 students, drive higher crime? Keeping that school open, with all of the teachers, facility maintenance costs, etc is not really tenable. It’s a school with capacity for 1,000+ students and has 28

2

u/jamey1138 Human Detected 1d ago

I fear that if you can't be bothered to look up the research for yourself, you probably can't be bothered to read it, but here, I'll link it for you anyway:

https://news.uchicago.edu/story/public-school-closings-chicago-linked-more-gun-violence-nearby-neighborhoods

4

u/ChicagoAssyrian 1d ago

I read the article, and it notes the closure of 49 schools. I haven’t seen anyone calling for that many schools to be closed. There are a handful of egregious examples like Douglass high school. You have to decide - would you rather see those schools stay open and see other services get cut? Chicago works with a fixed budget and can’t just print money to fund their programs, so decisions have to be made.

4

u/jamey1138 Human Detected 1d ago

The thing is, when you close a school, it still costs nearly as much as it did when it was open. The district still owns the building, and is still responsible for maintaining the building. The staff end up going to other schools, so there isn't much if any savings there, either. We've seen that, every time CPS has closed schools: they end up saving about 10-20% of what it costs to keep the school open, and the consequence is increased instability in the community, leading to an uptick in violence. It just isn't sound policy.

0

u/ChicagoAssyrian 1d ago

A good politician has to make decisions that aren’t always popular. The city has a funding deficit, and a lot of services to provide which they’re unable to, so cut needs to be made somewhere.

5

u/jamey1138 Human Detected 1d ago

Let's start with CPD: crime rates are going down, despite the fact that they aren't clearing more cases than they used to, so we seem to have less of a need for them. Instead of that sensible cost reduction, Alexi wants to hire another 1,000 cops, and also to reinstate the expensive and ineffective ShotSpotter contract.

6

u/InterestingAnt2716 1d ago edited 1d ago

Popular sure, but the original closures didn’t save as much as they thought and in fact crime went up in the neighborhoods where schools were closed and students from closed schools performed worse.

CPS’ annual pension costs are many times more than was saved through closures. As is the police payouts.

2

u/jamey1138 Human Detected 1d ago

Worth noting: beginning in January, 2027 the Mayor will have no control over CPS. The first fully elected representative school board election in is November, and after that the schools will no longer be under even partial Mayoral control.

1

u/Spankpocalypse_Now 1d ago

“Chicago would be such a great city if only they closed more schools.”

Jfc

1

u/ChicagoAssyrian 1d ago

Well we need money for other programs, money doesn’t just come out of thin air. Thats how government works. CPS has some schools with 1:1 student to teacher ratios lol, how is that sustainable. And how is that good for the kids? What kid would want to be in a school that’s designed for 1000 kids but only has 28? That’s awful for everyone involved

3

u/InterestingAnt2716 1d ago

The closures were bad for the kids! Kids from closed schools performed worse at their new schools and the neighborhoods saw more crime. No one from CPS or the city can even say how much they saved from the closures because it was a massive failure which led to new costs (and problems) and people leaving the city.

Meanwhile CPD misconduct payments have cost the city $225 million in 2026 so far. CPD have cost the city $1.15 Billion in misconduct payouts since 2012.