Some Chicago Public Schools teachers who aren’t sold on their union’s decision to call a one-day strike will face consequences if they cross the picket line on April 1.

A South Side high school teacher who asked not to be identified told me that she learned her plan to show up to school on the so-called “Day of Action” would get her kicked out of the union.

“It was said to me as a matter of fact that the consequence of choosing to come to school is being kicked out of the union,” the teacher said. “I’m furious about the whole thing.”

In a surprise move, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has rejected the city police board’s three picks for a new police superintendent and selected his own candidate from within the force to replace the current interim top cop.

The Chicago Sun-Times and NBC Chicago, citing unnamed sources, reported thatEmanuel will appoint Eddie Johnson, a well-regarded veteran cop who currently serves as CPD’s head of patrol, to the role of interim superintendent.

The pick comes at a critical time for both Emanuel and the Chicago police force. The mayor remains deeply unpopular. He and the CPD continue to face criticism in the wake of the Laquan McDonald scandal, while morale is low among the department’s rank and file.

After fending off demands for his resignation that dragged on for months, Mayor Rahm Emanuel has waged a frenzied campaign to change the subject and win back the support he has hemorrhaged.

He has unveiled an ambitious plan for Chicago parks, cut runway and gate deals with major airlines, started the planning for high-speed rail from downtown to O’Hare Airport and moved to seize control over the Old Main Post Office that straddles the Eisenhower Expy.

In a direct appeal to African-American voters outraged by his handling of the Laquan McDonald shooting video, the politician branded “Mayor 1 percent” has unveiled a Robin Hood plan to let downtown developers build bigger projects if they share the wealth with impoverished neighborhoods.

The faculty of Southern Illinois University Edwardsville might organize as an official union in response to the ongoing budget stalemate in Springfield.

SIUE’s faculty are among the few employees at the university that are not part of a union. There are about 15 bargaining units for various employees at SIUE, including groundskeepers, the SIUE Police Department, technical and clerical staff, broadcast engineers, building service workers, electricians, food service workers and others.

But the tenured faculty have never been part of a union, and even after the non-tenure-track instructors organized in 2004, the tenured faculty never moved forward with being recognized as a bargaining unit.

Even as they ran a network of charter schools for thousands of students in low-income neighborhoods across Chicago, United Neighborhood Organization leader Juan Rangel and other UNO officials were piling up big bills at fancy restaurants and for travel on the taxpayers’ dime, records obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times show.

In the year before a contracting scandal led to Rangel’s forced resignation, the clout-heavy Hispanic community organization and charter-school operator spent more than $60,000 for restaurants on his American Express “business platinum” card, according to the records, which UNO fought for nearly three years to keep secret.

The spending spree included $1,000-or-higher tabs at Gene & Georgetti, Carmichaels, Vivo Chicago, Rosebud Prime, the East Bank Club, Carnivale, a downtown hotel’s rooftop bar and Soldier Field’s concessions during a soccer game featuring Mexico’s men’s national team.

Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner says private donors could help pay for repairs to the state’s fairgrounds.

A bipartisan measure sponsored by Republican state Rep. Tim Butler would allow private donors to fund repair projects at the Springfield and DuQuoin fairgrounds. Roofing, electrical and other upgrades at the two locations could cost more than $180 million. Meanwhile the state is amid a budget impasse.

Rauner will discuss Butler’s plan at the DuQuoin Fairgrounds on Wednesday.

Although it came as no surprise, last week’s Illinois Supreme Court decision striking down Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s pension reform package increases the financial pressure on the city.

The high court unanimously struck down legislation that was aimed at strengthening two city pension plans by increasing pension payments by city workers while reducing their benefits.

The fate of the legislation was sealed last year when the high court struck down similar legislation affecting members of the state’s public pension programs. The court ruled in the city’s case, just as it did in the state’s case, that the Illinois Constitution bars any changes that diminish or impair employee pension benefits.

Another attempt to decriminalize the possession of small amounts of marijuana statewide is again in front of Illinois lawmakers, but as before, they face strong opposition from law enforcement and anti-pot advocates.

The omnibus bill in the Senate also sets a standard for what’s considered too high to drive and automatically purges municipal citation records for possession annually, unless local governments decide against it. Opponents of the legislation dislike both of those provisions, too, saying there should be zero tolerance and that expunging records will make it difficult to determine when someone needs drug treatment.

Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner vetoed last year’s attempt to decriminalize pot, but gave lawmakers guidance on how to proceed if they tried again. Instead of making the possession of 15 grams or less of marijuana a civil offense, punishable with a fine between $55 and $125, Rauner wanted — and legislators have proposed — the threshold to be lower (10 grams or less) and the fines higher — between $100 and $200.