Chicago Public School budget challenges analyzed in Political-Review podcast hosted by Hanania and Calabrese

Political Analyst and consultant Frank Calabrese and political columnist and former Chicago City Hall reporter Ray Hanania analyze the financial challenges facing the Chicago Public Schools in the second episode of their video podcast, Political-Review.

The podcast, taped on August 10, 2026, addresses the impact of the unions negotiating and representing the City of Chicago, rising costs for pensions and school administrators, and schools that remain open with very few students.

The Political-Review Podcast with Calabrese and Hanania can be viewed online at YouTube vy visiting www.Political-Review.com.

Subscribe free to the podcast there also.

Frank Calabrese and Ray Hanania Political-Review podcast

They discuss rising costs for school superintendents and administrators as a major factor in driving up expenses, and the artificial efforts to make student performance look better by reducing the acceptable passing level for student proficiency in the state through the Illinois State Board of Education.

Calabrese and Hanania also discuss. how the city of Chicago receives back nearly all of the taxes it pays to the state while suburban Cook County receives only 65 percent, and downstate receives nearly 175 percent of the taxes back that it pays to the state.

Clearly, Chicago schools are looking to have suburbanites pay for their school financial troubles.

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To contact Calabrse, visit his website at FrankCalabrese.com.

To contact Hanania, visit his website at Hanania.com or the alternative URL at CourageousThought.com. Hanania also produces a podcast with former US Congressman Bill Lipinski on national and international politics called “Two Guys on Politics at TwoGuysonPolitics.com.

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Ray Hanania

Ray Hanania is an award-winning opinion columnist, author & former Chicago City Hall reporter (1977-1992). A veteran who served during the Vietnam War and the recipient of four SPJ Peter Lisagor Awards for column writing, Hanania writes weekly opinion columns on mainstream American & Chicagoland topics for the Southwest News-Herald, Des Plaines Valley News, the Regional News, The Reporter Newspapers, and Suburban Chicagoland.

His award winning columns can be found at www.HANANIA.COM Subscribe FREE today

Hanania also writes about Middle East issues for the Arab News, and The Arab Daily News criticizing government policies in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Hanania was named "Best Ethnic American Columnist" by the New America Media in November 2007, and is the 2009 recipient of the SPJ National Sigma Delta Chi Award for column writing.

Email Ray Hanania at [email protected].

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