Heather Gillers – Page 7

Members of the Chicago Board of Education hold a meeting in January 2014 at the board's headquarters in the Loop.

Experts: Planned municipal advisers test may not protect CPS, others

August 18, 2019 at 6:31 p.m.

After governments across the country, including Chicago Public Schools, suffered devastating losses on risky bond deals during the financial crisis, Congress passed a 2010 measure setting first-ever standards for the...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel is looking to Wall Street to borrow money as part of his budget plan.

Some have recouped millions from risky type of debt that plagues CPS

August 18, 2019 at 6:30 p.m.

With risky debt deals draining money from Chicago's cash-strapped public school system, advocacy groups are calling on local officials to try to get some of that money back. Chicago Mayor...

Risky CPS debt raises questions about SEC protections for governments

August 18, 2019 at 6:30 p.m.

Many investors in the auction-rate market — who were unable to cash out when the market collapsed — got their money back after the Securities and Exchange Commission alleged that...

Teachers union, advocates protest and ask CPS to act on costly borrowing

August 18, 2019 at 6:17 p.m.

Nearly 50 people gathered at Chicago City Hall on Thursday calling for city and school officials to try to recoup money spent on costly school borrowing deals. Some demonstrators were...

Ald. Latasha Thomas, 17th, speaks last year during a City Council meeting.

Aldermen turn up heat on CPS’ bond deals; public jeers school board chief

May 12, 2019 at 10:47 p.m.

The Chicago City Council's Education and Child Development Committee will hold a hearing to examine Chicago Public Schools' borrowing practices, committee chair Ald. Latasha Thomas said Wednesday.Eight aldermen signed a...

Mayor Rahm Emanuel this week distanced himself from the risky derivatives that are draining funds from the city's school system, but records show the city of Chicago has entered into at least four interest-rate swaps under the Emanuel administration.

Emanuel says he didn’t do risky interest-rate swaps, but he’s done 4

August 18, 2019 at 6:15 p.m.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel this week distanced himself from the risky derivatives that are draining funds from the city's school system, declaring: "Under my tenure, there have been no swaps." But...

Emanuel: Too late to recoup potential losses on CPS bonds

August 18, 2019 at 6:14 p.m.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Wednesday that it's too late to try to recoup any of the money from burdensome interest payments that Chicago Public Schools made after issuing risky auction-rate...

State Sen. John Cullerton, now the Senate president, defended his measure allowing school districts and smaller municipalities to enter into nontraditional debt deals, calling it part of "an effort to run government more like a business."

Illinois lawmakers opened door to risky CPS bond deals

August 18, 2019 at 6:12 p.m.

The legislation paving the way for Chicago Public Schools to issue $1 billion in risky debt arrived on the Senate floor with little explanation. The sponsor, Sen. John Cullerton, told...

Banks kept CPS in shaky bond market

August 18, 2019 at 6:12 p.m.

As investors across the country grew disenchanted with the risky auction-rate bond market in summer 2007, Bank of America officials became concerned that more trouble might lie ahead. Auction-rate securities...

Risky bonds prove costly for Chicago Public Schools

August 18, 2019 at 6:12 p.m.

Fresh from the world of high-stakes trading, David Vitale arrived at Chicago Public Schools a decade ago with a plan to transform the way it borrowed money. With the district...

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