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* Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s brother doesn’t think the foes of Chicago school closings have a chance…
“Give in now. Give in now. Rahm will win. Rahm always does win,” Ezekiel “Zeke” Emanuel told The Huffington Post, when asked what advice he’d give the teachers union.
Emanuel said his brother’s policies are intended to decrease neighborhood crime and improve how the city educates its students. He offered little hope to those who want to fight the mayor’s administration.
“Like I said, you’re not going to beat him. … You can bang your head against the wall, but he’s pretty tough,” Zeke Emanuel said.
I really think this Emanuel family hubris is gonna backfire one day.
* Meanwhile, Gov. Pat Quinn is not all that ecstatic with the school closings and wants an elected school board…
Governor Pat Quinn offered a serious admonition to Chicago Public Schools leadership about closing 50-some elementary schools when he stopped by for a special edition of Chicago Newsroom on Friday.
“That has to be done with extreme care,” he warned. “I would recommend to the school board of Chicago to take this in a very careful manner and not to do anything that’s hasty or ill-conceived. To try and do it all in a very short period of time I think is dangerous.”
But he went further, saying he also feels that very board should be replaced by an elected body.
“Ninety five percent of the school boards in America are elected by the people,” he told us — in direct disagreement with Mayor Emanuel — “And I think the Chicago Board of Education which for years has been appointed, it would serve us well to have an elected school board… Don’t you think that if we had an elected school board in Chicago, where I live, that more of the issues of education would be debated by folks who are elected by their fellow citizens? I think that’s a healthy process.”
Thoughts?
* Related…
* Byrd-Bennett defends CPS closing plan, insulted by racism charges
* CPS chief lashes back at critics who call closings racist
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 10:26 am
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I don’t think it wise for the Governor to give anyone advice on sound governance practices.
Comment by phocion Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 10:31 am
I actually agree with Quinn. If the board was elected, at least the voters/taxpayers will have a say in who’s on the board, instead of cronies/flunkies of Rahm The Great.
Comment by Ravenswood Right Winger Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 10:31 am
==“Give in now. Give in now. Rahm will win. Rahm always does win,”–
That’s right, all you parents, students and teachers. Shut up and do what you’re told. It’s all about Rahm “winning.”
The Emanuels have spoken. The fact that your lives, and not their lives, are impacted by their decisions is as irrelevant as your opinions.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 10:32 am
So that makes all three of them…a word I’m sure Rich does not want me to use.
Who knew it would only take this long to make me wish Daley hadn’t retired? Or that people like me had held our noses and voted for Chico?
Comment by Chavez-respecting Obamist Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 10:37 am
Quinn decided to throw a bone to the unions, who love the idea of an elected school board whose campaigns they can finance.
Comment by Just Me Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 10:40 am
Rahm’s a bully. But Chicago elections are rarely about the people picking someone and more about the party picking someone to back.
It will work if he can keep people in line and keep cash flowing where he needs to.
As far as electing a board? sounds great to me. Though in the City you wont just get some concerned parents, it will be yet another election to be decided by the folks in the party “who will we support and who will we shut down”, or “Who’s kid needs something to do for a year or two before they run for a real office?”
Comment by RonOglesby Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 10:44 am
The shame of it all is that Quinn’s call for an elected school board are about seventy-five to a hundred years too late. Chicago may have benefited from a school board (the same applies to the City Colleges have an unelected Board of Trustees as opposed to all of the Downstate college districts). It would require a terrific fight to implement such a plan now, so I doubt that it would go anywhere.
The comments are indicative of Quinn’s so so relations with Emanuel and the governor’s continued dependence upon black political support.
Quinn’s refusal to intervene in the trainwreck at Chicago State University is another reflection of his weakness.
Comment by Esquire Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 10:50 am
Man alive… Is Rahm the first Republican mayor in Chicago history? Or were there some before Cermak?
Comment by Johnny Q. Suburban Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 10:53 am
===Is Rahm the first Republican mayor in Chicago history?===
Big Bill Thompson, Al Capone’s guy.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 10:55 am
Would Quinn agree to an elected board of trustees for SIU?
Comment by Observing Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 10:55 am
Quinn and Karen Lewis are very tight, and Quinn has been smart about prodding Rahm on this issue, knowing that Rahm’s going to hate him either way. He’s built a pretty strong ally in Lewis. Anyone want to weigh in on the odds that Quinn gets either an endorsement or money from CTU in the primary, but not IEA or IFT (barring some major pension compromise)?
Comment by Empty Chair Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 10:59 am
Yep and it is going to fun to watch, but until then it is fairly accurate.
As for the elected school board, can you imagine what that fight and those elections would be like. …
Comment by OneMan Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 10:59 am
–But Chicago elections are rarely about the people picking someone and more about the party picking someone to back.–
Who’s the party? Who does the picking?
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 11:01 am
PAT QUINN can’t find his way out of a paper bag and he wants to criticize CPS’s handling of the school closing? Stick to the States’ problems Pat! Squeezy and so on and so forth!
Comment by Nickypiii Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 11:05 am
We all rember his great victory over the teachers last year.
“Give in now. Give in now. Rahm will win. Rahm always does win,”
Comment by AFSCME Steward Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 11:08 am
In a cage fight between Rahm and Pat, I’m picking Rahm.
Comment by Aldyth Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 11:10 am
Really word?
“–But Chicago elections are rarely about the people picking someone and more about the party picking someone to back.–
Who’s the party? Who does the picking? ”
Really?
Comment by RonOglesby Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 11:11 am
Yep, representative government sure would be messy.
– MrJM
Comment by MrJM Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 11:15 am
Just because Quinn is unpopular or having his own troubles with unelected school boards at the moment doesn’t make him wrong on the need to elect the cps board so that when decisions like these school closings are made there’s a release valve for those frustrations in the form of elections.
Comment by hisgirlfriday Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 11:18 am
Zeke’s comments really seem off-kilter, and Rich’s comments are on-point. The school closings seem really tone-deaf and play into the caricature of Rahm as the hypocritical, rich white guy who sends his own kids to private school, while preaching to minority parents about the need to stick with him as he guts their neighborhood schools in the name of reform. I’m curious about the polling on this…
Comment by Silent majority Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 11:19 am
The knock on the appointed Chicago school board is that it is wired with mayoral insiders and that most are unresponsive to the general public. There is some merit to that characterization.
Implementing an elected school board could be a bloody mess. I do not imagine that such a proposal would advance any time soon.
If you had school board elections decades ago, the candidates could have been elected at large. Today, single member districts would probably be more appropriate.
Such elections could be highly expensive and contentious. Too many black political leaders want representation and political patronage jobs and contracts from the school board to be divided on the basis of enrollment demographics. The late Mike Royko wrote a few controversial columns on a similar subject when the position of school superitendent was supposed to be filled. Activists wanted a black superintendent, arguing that black students predominated. Royko, being a good contrarian, hurled back the challenge that perhaps the composition of the school board and the selection of the superintendent should be predicated upon who was paying the property taxes to the Chicago Board of Education.
This issue is explosive.
Comment by Esquire Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 11:25 am
===I really think this Emanuel family hubris is gonna backfire one day.===
Maybe - I’d like to point back to the recent Emanuel approval polling. Yes, he is, ahem, “abrasive”. Yes, his confidence/arrogance can be infuriating. But who will mount a credible challenge to his authority? I don’t see anyone on the horizon. Until/unless someone surfaces, we’ve got Karen Lewis as the primary face and voice of the anti-Emanuel corner. And that, frankly, isn’t going to get the job done.
I think we’ll waiting a long time for that hubris to backfire.
Comment by Anon City Worker Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 11:27 am
Uhh… that’s not a caricature.
– MrJM
Comment by MrJM Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 11:28 am
Given the dismal performance of the Chicago school system, almost any change has to be an improvement,
Comment by downstate hack Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 11:43 am
While Rahm’s brother may have an even worse case of the Emmanuel arrogance, I do agree with the premise of his statement. The union has proven it has absolutely no interest in the kids and is only concerned with it’s own agenda. As far a Quinn we should listen to him and do the exact opposite.
Comment by downhereforyears Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 11:49 am
gulp Quinn is Right On The Elected School Board. Now If CPS School Board Races Are Anything Like The Suburbs Wow.
Rham Is Done He Will Not Win Bcz His Base Is Gone And Money Won’t Bring Them Back
Comment by austinman Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 11:50 am
Wasn’t Quinn behind the proposal to precipitously close several state facilities like Jacksonville DC, juvenile detentions centers and the like without doing it in, by some folks measure, “a very careful manner and not to do anything that’s hasty or ill-conceived”. Hmmmm.
I get the feeling these 2 guys don’t like each other. Just a feeling, tho.
Comment by dupage dan Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 11:55 am
===“That has to be done with extreme care,” he warned. “I would recommend to the school board of Chicago to take this in a very careful manner and not to do anything that’s hasty or ill-conceived. To try and do it all in a very short period of time I think is dangerous.”==
excuse me, Governor, but aren’t you the guy who insists on closing prisons & mental health facilites within a month of the closures being announced. If this isn’t the pot calling the kettle black. Hahah
Comment by TCB Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 11:57 am
I do not think that Chicago school board races would be as quiet as low turnout suburban or Downstate school board races. They could be loud and raucous affairs. The dollars and jobs involved are huge.
While I am not on board with all of his public health and medical ideas, Dr. Ezekial Emanuel is easily the least offensive brother of the trio. Ari and Rahm are (insert your own descriptive comment).
As much as the mayor is disliked, there still is not a credible challenger on the horizon.
Comment by Esquire Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 12:04 pm
Emanuel Brothers take cover - The Hanson/Carlson Brothers ain’t happy bout being imitated.
Comment by x ace Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 12:09 pm
“If the board was elected, at least the voters/taxpayers will have a say in who’s on the board”
No, we wouldn’t; we’d get to choose between patsies of the CTU and patsies of the Mayor. Only *possible* way out of that mess would be to have cumulative voting (which, I think, would require a change in state law).
Also, under NO circumstances should that board be allowed to unilaterally determine the amount of the levy, approve a contract, bonuses that go into retirement comp, etc etc. We need to keep school boards *out* of the regulatory capture problem.
Comment by Chris Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 12:10 pm
No one and I mean no critic of the school closings has come up with a way to finance keeping half empty schools open. How would an elected school board change the reality of this situation? Both the Governor and Karen Lewis have zero credibility on the school financing issue.
Comment by wishbone Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 12:23 pm
I love the Emanuel brothers portray themselves as 3 tough brothers you were not to mess with on the mean streets of Wilmette, please.
Comment by James the Intolerant Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 12:25 pm
Elected school boards work because they are held responsible by the constituents. It’s messy and bloody, and everyone has their scared cows to protect, but it’s better than an appointed board.
Comment by Fan of the Game Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 12:57 pm
What half empty schools Wishbone? That ‘half-empty’ stuff is as big a lie as the 19,000 applicants for charter schools.
Comment by Chavez-respecting Obamist Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 12:58 pm
“Rahm always does win”
Ummm…I’m pretty sure the Union won the last battle against Rahm.
This one’s an easier fight for Rahm to win. He can just (and, obviously, is) force this one.
Regarding elected school boards, Chicago used to have one. Mayor Daley had the law changed so that he could appoint the Board the last time it had a financial crisis.
In some ways, a Board that’s directly accountable to the people is desirable. However, look at how engaged the people are in electing MWRD Commissioners. With the Board being appointed directly by the Mayor, accountability begins and ends in one place. The Mayor’s office.
You can bring change to the School Board and to a lot of other Boards very quickly in this town just by voting out the mayor. Whether we’ll vote the mayor out is a different story, of course.
While significant changes are needed at CPS, and I believe that the statistics don’t lie - total enrollment is way down (whether or not charters are included or excluded) over the past 10 years (the census showed a population decrease as well, so that backs up the position that enrollment is shrinking), so I think school closures are needed, this mayor does everything #$@ backwards. Working with the union, with parents, with the communities would be a much wiser path to idling facilities, rather than this scorched earth policy that’s straight out of corporate America.
He just needs to go. He’s actually making me start to pine for the days of Mayor Daley.
Comment by jerry 101 Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 1:08 pm
Yes, but if anyone thinks the elections for an elected Chicago school board would be anything like the school board races in their local community would be mistaken.
Why is tons of money spent on Board Of Review races, is it because Joe Citizen is that concerned about the board of review…
The last people anyone would be worried about in an Chicago School Board election would be the students. The teachers union (and I wouldn’t blame them) would run a slate and fund it that would end up totally beholden to them.
The charter interests would do the exact same thing and end up with their board members.
Unless I am mistaken does any school district do ‘districts’ when electing SB members? I don’t know of any? So if Chicago was fully at large, imagine the cash you would have to raise. Do you think that is going to attract the same sort of people who run for the school board in Elgin, Dolton or Oswego?
You think that is going to help anyone?
Also if you are going to end up with big money elections for those seats, you are going to have to pay them at least as much as aldermen. Otherwise I think you run a ‘Rod Risk’ that folks will have to raise money so much to stay on the school board they will start taking ethical short cuts to raise funds.
Sorry, I would have to say that an appointed board is the best bet for Chicago.
Comment by OneMan Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 1:09 pm
Just noticed Rahm shares a byline with Luis Gutierrez on a NY Times immigration op-ed today. Seems kind of random for Rahm to jump in on that fight right now.
Comment by hisgirlfriday Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 1:10 pm
Dear Chicagoans,
I know how you can keep all of the schools open. Pay the same school property tax rate I do, best I can tell mine is about 45% higher. That would solve your budget issues.
Comment by OneMan Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 1:10 pm
“Given the dismal performance of the Chicago school system, almost any change has to be an improvement”
Actually, under Daley and Duncan and Huberman, CPS was improving quite nicely. It may have been quiet, but graduation rates were consistently ticking up a point or two most every year, drop out rates were slowly falling. Nothing earth shattering, but consistent. Then, Rahm came along and brought in Brizard, a CEO who oversaw a falling graduation rate in Syracuse.
Rahm’s scorched earth policy is undermining a lot of progress that’s been made.
We had a system that was getting better, and now we have a system that’s being destroyed in the name of Rahm’s vendetta against the Unions.
Comment by jerry 101 Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 1:15 pm
===Unless I am mistaken does any school district do ‘districts’ when electing SB members?===
You will find this in many downstate districts in which schools have consolidated.
Comment by Fan of the Game Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 1:19 pm
Elect school board by districts, perhaps 9 and 2 at large or appointed by the mayor. Would require 6 votes to raise taxes, etc.
Quinn should run with this idea, it could win him the majority vote in Chicago in a dem primary!
Comment by Socrates Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 1:34 pm
I am really fed up with these rich North Shore guys acting like they know what’s best for our city. Screw the Emanuel family. Let them run Wilmette and Highland Park and Skokie. Time to get a real Chicagoan back in office.
Comment by Lakefront Lib Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 1:52 pm
==Regarding elected school boards, Chicago used to have one. Mayor Daley had the law changed so that he could appoint the Board the last time it had a financial crisis. –
No, Chicago hasn’t had an elected school board in anyone’s memory. Mayors have appointed board members forever.
In 1995, the GA gave the mayor’s office direct control over the schools. I’m not sure Daley wanted it, but Edgar, Pate and Lee Daniels insisted.
Comment by wordslinger Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 1:58 pm
It already has with his getting spanked by Karen Lewis last year…he won’t let her have the last word on CPS. This is the most recent shot across the bow. He did not like being shown up by her and her minions. He is totally alienating the AA community in the City, and it’s difficult to win the Mayor’s race without their support.
My son is 24 and lives in the City, and can’t stand Rahm. He thinks he’s a very well heeled bully, and it’s easy to understand why.
I predict all the schools that have been closed will reopen in a few years as charters, and his connected friends will make a pile of money.
Chicago is getting out of the public education business and is handing it over to the private sector, just like every other big city school system. A friend of mine was a CPS teacher for several years and he said this is the direction it will go. The powers that be have given up on public education.
Rahm is a great strategist and fundraiser and a lousy public official.
Read the NYT today and see what Alan Simpson says about politics and politicians today, versus the not so distant past. This progressive Dem couldn’t agree with him more.
Comment by Loop Lady Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 2:05 pm
===The school closings seem really tone-deaf and play into the caricature of Rahm as the hypocritical, rich white guy who sends his own kids to private school, while preaching to minority parents about the need to stick with him as he guts their neighborhood schools in the name of reform.===
Hey, tying themselves completely to the D party has worked out so well for the A-A and Hispanic communities for the last few decades. Just look at how their progress is blowing away the Asians…
Comment by titan Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 2:13 pm
Has the Mayor has forgotten that he must run for reelection? There will be many people voting who are not his wealthy campaign contributors.
Comment by Ruby Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 3:06 pm
I learned something today. I thought all school boards were elected! How can they serve the community if they are not? I should have guessed Chicago would be different. Up there, everything is views as a patronage opportunity, it seems.
Comment by Skirmisher Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 3:33 pm
As far as I know, the Chicago Board of Education has been appointed by the mayor for a century or longer. If there was an elected school board before the Fire of 1871, I plead ignorance of that particular fact.
As much as I prefer elected boards, my gut tells me that it would be a herculean task to make such a system work in Chicago. I believe that Chicago is the only city in Illinois in which the park, library and school district boards are wholly appointed. These are elected positions everywhere else.
Comment by Esquire Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 4:07 pm
==Unless I am mistaken does any school district do ‘districts’ when electing SB members? I don’t know of any? ==
Our district (Urbana 116), does.
Comment by TooManyJens Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 4:50 pm
Unless AA is starting to go senile, I recall that many of the sizable Downstate cities elect SB members by “Subdistrict.” As noted by “Jens” above, Urbana, Champaign, and Springfield definitely do so. Some big races here in the ‘Patch.
I’m thinking B-N also elect that way but could be wrong.
Comment by Arthur Andersen Thursday, Apr 4, 13 @ 6:33 pm
Even little LeRoy CUSD 2 elects school board members in 2 subdistricts and we only have about 1,000 students.
Comment by Rayne of Terror Friday, Apr 5, 13 @ 8:27 am