Chicago Board of Education President Sean Harden called a special meeting over the Christmas holiday. He had one objective: Quietly pass a $25 million property tax hike.
One might understand why Harden wanted to keep it under wraps.
Weeks earlier, Chicago homeowners saw the largest residential property tax hike in at least 30 years. And the man who appointed Harden to his post, Mayor Brandon Johnson, just spent months talking about how he was refusing to hike property taxes as part of the city budget.
Best not to mix messages.
But Harden’s plan hit a snag. Fox 32 Chicago political reporter Paris Schutz published news of the meetingbefore the school board posted a public notice of its own.