This week’s Chicago edition of “Public Affairs” features Jeff Berkowitz and Terry Martin (Executive Director, Illinois Channel) discussing some key City of Chicago and State of Illinois political and public policy issues.

The show airs in Chicago:

–Tonight (Monday), 8:30 pm and midnight, Cable Ch. 21 (CAN TV)

–Tuesday night, 9:15 pm, Cable Ch 21 (as part of the two-hour Illinois Channel block of programming on CAN TV).

The Berkowitz and Martin discussion on CAN TV on Tuesday night follows a 15 minute segment of GOP office-holders discussing the so-called “Police reform,” legislation that passed the Democratic Party controlled IL legislature last year.  

–And you can also watch the show 24/7 by clicking here, and in

–Aurora tonight, Wed. & Saturday, 6 pm on Comcast Cable Ch. 10 (ACTV-10) and

–in Rockford (& surrounding suburbs), Thurs., 8:30 pm, Comcast Cable Ch. 17

Topics discussed include the Chicago Teachers Union (“CTU”)  “Walkout”/ strike, reflected in the CTU refusal to do in-person instruction in the classroom last week for three work days and most of the CTU members’ continued refusal to return to the classroom to do in-person instruction this coming week (as the CTU seeks, for now, to do only remote teaching, and to require by CPS student and staff C19 testing and other health procedures related to the current status of Covid in Chicago).

According to both Chicago Mayor Lightfoot & ex- CPS Supt., Paul Vallas, this refusal by CTU to return to in-person classroom instruction is in violation of the CTU contract with the city of Chicago. (and Chicago has filed legal action against the CTU).

Further, The Chicago Director of Public Health, Dr. Arwady, has stated CPS classrooms are perfectly safe for teachers, students and staff.  However, CPS has already instituted some of the C19 testing and other health procedures requested now by CTU, agreed to other requested C19 health procedures this past week, and may agree this week to additional C19 health related procedures.  

This is the CTU’s 15th strike (or walkout) in the last fifty-two years, and compounds the current CPS problems of being saddled with excessive teacher salaries and pensions (CTU salaries generally rank within the top 3 highest teacher salaries for the 150 largest school districts in the country), junk bond ratings by Moody’s of the bonds CPS issues, short CTU daily school hours and a short eight month work year for the CTU.

Further, despite their extraordinarily high level of compensation, CTU teachers have exceptional problems teaching effectively, as demonstrated by the fact that only 14% of CPS 11th grade black students and 25% of CPS Latino students read at grade level (more than 80% of CPS students are minority with low income parents), with similar CTU performance failures for other subject areas.    

Also discussed is Gov Pritzker & President Biden being MIA on the CTU strike, the high risk from Covid faced by the elderly, the morbidly obese and those with other pre-existing conditions, the entry by former Sangamon County State’s Attorney and U. S. Attorney (Central District, IL) John Milhiser into the GOP SOS race and likely entry (by January 31, 2022) of Aurora Mayor Richard Irvin into the GOP GOV race.

Also reported by Berkowitz is that, according to reliable sources, for the last four months or so, Mayor Irvin has been involved in exploring with a small group of senior level GOP national, state and county political operatives and a representative of Ken Griffin Mr. Irvin’s potential entry into the GOP GOV primary.   

Further reported by Berkowitz on this week’s and prior shows is that Mayor Irvin, former prosecutor and teacher Milhiser and a number of other 2022 GOP political candidates in IL are likely to have very substantial, financial support from Ken Griffin, hedge fund manager, entrepreneur and investor- who is also Citadel LLC’s Founder and CEO.

This financial support by Mr. Griffin will surely exist for various 2022 IL GOP general election candidates and almost surely exist for some 2022 IL GOP Primary candidates.

Ken Griffin reportedly, says Berkowitz, has an estimated net worth of 21 billion dollars, which is roughly seven times the reported net worth of Gov. JB Pritzker.

Griffin is reported to have contributed more than fifty million dollars in opposition to the so-called “Fair Tax” Illinois Constitutional Amendment, which was defeated at the ballot box in 2020 and would have permitted so called “Progressive income tax rates,” in IL.

Gov Pritzker, on the other side of the fence, reportedly contributed somewhat more than fifty million dollars in support of his Fair Tax Amendment.

Mr. Griffin’s spokesperson has publicly denied that Griffin has decided on a specific GOP candidate that he will support for IL Governor. 

But, Ken Griffin has made clear that he opposes many of Gov. Pritzker’s fiscal policies and Griffin has also criticized the lack of public safety and high level of violent crime in the Chicago metro area, as well as the Governor’s and Chicago Mayor’s actions (and lack thereof) prior to and during the looting and rioting that occurred in the Chicago Loop, other parts of the City and Chicago Metro area in 2020.