Last week, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson repeatedly slammed Statehouse legislators.
“Some of the same individuals who claim to support an elected representative school board only got the gospel once I became mayor of Chicago,” Mayor Johnson told reporters during one of the most combative and counter-productive press conferences I have ever seen.
No.
Lori Lightfoot campaigned for mayor supporting an elected school board, then did everything she could to stop it. But a bill was passed in Springfield and then signed into law in 2021 over her opposition. One victory she did manage was stripping out a proposal to require city council confirmation of all school board appointees.
After Johnson was elected, he and the Chicago Teachers Union first demanded (under a lawsuit threat made by the union during a Senate hearing), then suddenly opposed a fully elected school board. They ended up demanding a temporary hybrid board. So, similar to the bill passed in 2021, half the board and the board President will be appointed by the mayor for two-year terms, and the other half will be elected by voters.
Let’s continue with the mayor’s remarks: “These are the same individuals in Springfield that did not fight for adequate funding, that when massive school closings were taking place, none of them stood up in that moment to say, ‘You know what, maybe the authority of the mayor is too much?’”
Just 47 current state legislators (by my quick count) were in office back in 2013 when Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed those schools. That’s barely a quarter of the legislature’s 177 members. The mayor is fighting with ghosts.
Anyway, the CTU pushed legislation at the time to reverse then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s 2013 school closings. House Bill 3283 had 32 House sponsors, and one of those sponsors is now House Speaker Chris Welch.
A similar Senate bill (SB1571) made it out of committee. But the two Democratic legislative leaders blocked the bills. Even so, the CTU shortly thereafter contributed to both their campaign funds.
More Johnson: “Now you actually have a mayor who recognizes democracy, has given the people exactly what they asked for, what they voted for. And all of a sudden, they want to rehash the policies of Bruce Rauner, who called for state control and takeover. So, we’re not going down that route.”
That Rauner proposal was laughed out of the General Assembly. It would have put a state authority in charge of the school district and allowed the district to declare bankruptcy. Nothing even remotely close to that is being considered by normal-thinking legislators. The only item kicking around right now might be requiring city council approval of his appointments, but even that’s doubtful. Could there be some guardrails? Sure. Could the mayor provoke a state takeover by deliberately tanking the district’s finances? We’ll see.
Mayor Johnson also told reporters that he, as a CTU staffer, helped pass the evidence-based school funding bill in 2017. But the reality is that the CTU hotly opposed the bill which actually passed.
The Sunday before the bill was voted on, the CTU held a conference call with several Democratic legislators and I managed to obtain the call-in number and code and then listened in.
The compromises made to reach a veto-proof majority on that bill included adding the Invest in Kids tax credit program. But that “voucher” plan was “not something that we can live with,” CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey told legislators on the conference call. The compromise was, “the language of our enemies,” CTU President Karen Lewis said on the call. Rep. Chris Welch pointed out during the call that if this deal was the only way the House could find a three-fifths super-majority to pass something at risk of a threatened Rauner veto, “then why shouldn’t we support it?” As I wrote back then, President Lewis’ retort to Welch was blunt: “Quite frankly, you’re destroying public education” by supporting the compromise. “We’d rather have no deal,” and no additional state money included in the legislation than agree to the compromise, VP Sharkey said.
“The Illinois Democratic Party has crossed a line which no spin or talk of ‘compromise’ can ever erase,” the union thundered after the House passed the bill.
Does that sound like they helped pass the bill?
And more Johnson: “This [school] board and the people of Chicago, my administration, will continue to advocate in Springfield for more.”
Once again, with feeling, the mayor has yet to ask the governor or the legislative leaders for the billion dollars he claims the state owes the school district.
- @misterjayem - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 8:16 am:
“Thoughts?”
This was a truly grim read.
– MrJM
- thunderspirit - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 8:20 am:
My thoughts are: don’t pay as much attention to what politicians (certainly to include Mayor Johnson) say as you pay to what they do. Or don’t do.
- uialum - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 8:40 am:
I believe Johnson himself confirmed the last line and contradicted the quote in the previous line in an interview with another publication this morning:
“I don’t know anyone in Springfield that believes that we’ve done enough for education for our state. …That’s why the state needs to be here for us. I believe they know what their responsibilities are. They don’t need a reminder from me.”
- Beep booop - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 8:50 am:
Johnson reminds me so much of Rauner it’d honestly be hilarious if it wasn’t so aggravating.
- Second Verse - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 8:57 am:
Both City Hall and the C.T.U. seem to confuse what is good for children and what is good for the adults involved in the Chicago Public schools. Shouldn’t half empty buildings and 30,000 fewer students call for reductions in any District?
There are many unmet needs at C.P.s. just as there are in all the districts in Illinois. Stop the jobs program and start using what you have more effectively. When the Union leads with “No job cuts” before talking about right sizing the work force, something is very out of whack here…
- Regular democrat - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 9:04 am:
Facts are a stubborn thing. I am glad you took the time to retort the nonsense that comes out of this guys mouth. This guy is in so far over his head its really scary. Facts matter .
- JS Mill - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 9:08 am:
Just a point of clarification:
=that did not fight for adequate funding, that when massive school closings were taking place=
Those schools were closed because kids were not attending them. Attendance at some of the schools was as low as 25%. Other districts might have been sanctioned by the state with attendance issues like that. The low attendance meant that CPS was spending money very inefficiently and needed to reduce their foot print. KAren Lewis called Emmanuel the “murder mayor” because he did the responsible thing. He didn’t go far enough in truth. It did mean kids in the city hgad to travel farther to get to school in some cases. Too bad. Some of our kids travel more than 10 miles to get top school.
This also bothers me:
=“We’d rather have no deal,”=
So CTU thought it could tank a law that would benefit the entire state? Egos run amok. Their behavior is as bad as the far right and it is pretty much the same thing. 20% of students are more important than the remaining 80%?
There is no doubt that CPS students and their families face many challenges. The mayor and his constant attacks on the state is not helping, he is simply proving that CTU has a seat at the governance table that it does not deserve.
- NotRich - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 9:10 am:
This is what happens when the dog catches the car.
- Candy Dogood - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 9:15 am:
===Thoughts? ===
I still don’t know why anyone wants to be Mayor of Chicago.
But at least he hasn’t sold all of the parking spots for the entire lifespan of a human being.
- low level - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 9:16 am:
I’ve been text banking for a school board candidate. If our responses are any indication, Mayor Johnson and CTU are not very popular at the moment. His statements and pubic appearances seem to make him less and less popular. Not good.
- lake county democrat - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 9:24 am:
There’s a horseshoe theory-type dynamic with MAGA and the progressive left. Simply deny difficult facts or respond to challenges with the most patronizing simplicity, often an accusal of being against children.
- ChicagoBars - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 10:01 am:
Thank you Mister Miller (banned punctuation).
This post will save me much time when neighbors ask why State isn’t helping CPS more. Much appreciated.
- Two Left Feet - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 10:10 am:
The good looking Mayor ineffectively advocates while not governing.
- Neighborly - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 10:12 am:
==This post will save me much time when neighbors ask why State isn’t helping CPS more.==
Not sure this will make much sense to them since most people don’t see funding CPS as a political win. They mostly see it as a good thing that needs to happen lol.
- Interim Retiree - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 10:17 am:
The only real ways school districts can save money is to close building(s) & consolidate some staffing. With a shortage of teachers, para professionals & other staff (social workers, etc) doesn’t it make sense to close down inefficient buildings?
Oops, forgot the Mayor & CTU was involved.
- levivotedforjudy - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 11:12 am:
Great column Rich. This reminds me of when a pol would try to reinvent past actions or statements and the late, great Tim Russert would say “roll the tape” on Meet the Press. Unfortunately my mayor thinks he is on a crusade that he is ill-prepared to fight and doesn’t have anywhere near as much support as he thinks he does.
- You win more bees with honey - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 11:21 am:
Who lies more? DJT and MAGA or MBJ and CTU?
- ChicagoBars - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 11:22 am:
- Neighborly -
The parents around me on Chicago’s north side don’t see it as a political win one way or the other. What they usually just see is “Well the Governor is a Democrat, and the Mayor is a Democrat, seems weird they aren’t working all this stuff out already?”
This was true going back to Lightfoot in City Hall, average voters often just don’t follow City & State politics enough to understand that sharing party label does not a fully aligned and functional working coalition make.
- Flapdoodle - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 2:21 pm:
This column represents what journalism can and should be.
- Shytown - Tuesday, Oct 15, 24 @ 6:30 pm:
Late to the party here, but Rich you are owed a huge debt to all who work in this space for taking the time to go deep on these more complex and complicated issues where personalities/politics/government converge.
- ItsJustMe - Wednesday, Oct 16, 24 @ 1:44 pm:
Looks like another one-term mayor.