The ABC's of Academic Budget Cuts

When Money Runs Short: District 69 Talks Cutbacks

The economic woes on Main Street are felt in the classroom.

All three of Patty O’Malley’s children attend District 69 schools, while her neighbors across the street go to District 72 schools. The difference? Huge. “The equality is just not there,” said the PTA president, on the topic of financial support for the school districts. “All the school districts are funding by different tax bases, and District 69 has a high rental community, while District 68* has Old Orchard shopping." The Skokie native is quick to stress the financial unbalance in school districts in the north suburbs of Chicago. She describes herself as “frustrated “ about the issue. Yet she is just as eager to talk about the high quality of education at District 69, where her children were enrolled in second, fourth and sixth grades …

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The ABC's of Academic Budget Cuts

Why You Should Read This Week's Series

A week-long look at School District 69.

We've watched the Great Recession pinch our grocery bills, our salaries and our home values. But what about our schools? This week, Morton Grove Patch takes a closer look at the effects of the economic blight on education through the lens of one school district. School District 69 spans three school buildings, two towns and nine grades (K-8th), and initiated severe cutbacks this year.  After Monday, the final day of the school year, we ask ourselves: What has happened in the past year, and what will come in the next year? We start our District 69 story with one of its successes. Known for the diversity of the student body, we walk through District 69 corridors to learn about its extensive language program. From here, we retell the story of…

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Sharon Patt

5:21 pm on Friday, June 10, 2011

This is just teachers union propaganda. A living wage? How many of these teachers and administrators are pulling down 6 figure salaries for 9 months of work? Teachers pay no more for their pensions than I do for social security, but they get 75% of their last salaries for life, which is far more than social security. And you're comparing teachers to lawyers now? They have to pay for their …   more ›

Lessons from the Past Decade in Morton Grove

The Great Recession Squeezes Morton Grove's Budget Tighter

With little 'wiggle room,' village scrapes by on leaner services as its financial health gets more desperate.

Every year when the Morton Grove trustees get a copy of the budget, on top is a “transmittal letter” hitting the highlights and lowlights of the village’s financial position. The increasingly desperate tone of those letters in recent years reads like transmissions from the captain of a ship in distress. "As with other municipalities through the nation, Morton Grove has experienced serious revenue declines," the 2010 letter says, describing that year as a "cutback budget." "The budgetary challenge of 2011 is to maintain essential service levels while minimizing property tax or other license or fee increases," this year's transmittal letter said. As the housing bubble burst in late 2006 and the Great Recession set in, small cities all across…

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Fire Department Prepares for Budget Cuts

With the proposed 2011 budget, the fire department works around a 20 percent decrease in overtime funding.

Morton Grove's fire service expect tangible changes to its programs with the village's proposed budget for next year, which will be voted on Monday evening at the Village Board of Trustees meeting. Nearly $60,000 in overtime funding cutbacks may prompt the Morton Grove Fire Department to reconsider certain public education programs next year, according to Fire Chief Tom Friel. He said public CPR instruction is one nonresponse initiative that will be terminated in 2011. Similar community presentations, such as the high school prom-night simulation and company picnic appearances, are also at stake but will not be affected "where it's possible and appropriate." For the upcoming fiscal year, the fire department's overtime budget will be …

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Village Board Debates Property, Water and Sewer Tax Hikes

Trustees conduct special meeting Tuesday night to discuss budget challenges for 2011.

The sky was dark when the Village Board of Trustees met to discuss the proposed 2011 budget on Tuesday. Inside the Richard T. Flickinger Municipal Center, residents and government officials alike searched for a lighthouse. According to the village's numbers, Morton Grove faces tight fiscal constraints and deteriorating infrastructure. "This ship is sinking," said Village President Dan Staackmann. "It is simple dollars and cents." With a projected 41.5 percent increase in bond payments, a 5.5 percent increase in corporate costs, 2.6 percent increase in police pensions and 2.7 percent increase in fire pensions, the Village of Morton Grove faces a leaking deficit.   For residents on board, it means the potential for a 3.5 percent property …

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