The Chicago Tribune Editorial Board is correct in bringing attention to the collusion between Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union. At an event promoting American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten’s new book, Why Fascists Fear Teachers, Mayor Johnson served as moderator while CTU President Stacy Davis Gates was in attendance (2). Education in Chicago and Illinois more broadly is abysmal, with only one third of Illinois eighth grade students proficient in math and reading. Did the mayor and the governor talk about education outcomes? They did not. WirePoints reported in April on speeches given by both men in which they emphasized schools as conduits for labor rights and for preserving “black history,” “LGBTQ rights,” and jobs. Never mind that WirePoints also found only sixteen percent of black eighth grade students can read and nine percent can do math (3). Chicago media is finally waking up to the “adults” in the room who are making the lives of the next generation of Illinoisans significantly worse.
How can conservatives exploit the situation? School choice is a Republican policy issue that aligns with the conservative values of free markets, individual liberty, and personal responsibility. Yet all the poor souls caught in the Chicago school system are far from having the right to choose where they receive their education. They are trapped by their zip code and the grim fate that too often follows it. Republicans must therefore fight on the Democrats’ own ground.
Gubernatorial and General Assembly candidates should focus less on school choice, an achievement far from being realized, and more on seizing the conversation about public schools. Illinoisans are not going to jump ship to school choice; they have been conditioned to believe it signals the end times, resulting in global calamity. Instead, Illinois Republicans in Illinois should declare their support for public schools while offering solutions that appeal directly to teachers and parents alike.
One example would be to create a government task force to examine and analyze successful education programs nationwide, globally, and historically, identifying what already works. For example, Mississippi has instituted education policy over the last decade which resulted in them catapulting from near the bottom to the top in literacy standards (4). This would give any proposed policy substantial credibility. Furthermore, Republicans should advocate for significantly higher teacher salaries in exchange for the ability to remove low performing teachers. There is a reason finance and professional services attract some of the brightest graduates from Northwestern, the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois: those fields pay well and lead to lucrative careers. Teaching must become competitive with these sectors if Illinois hopes to attract top talent.
In summary, Chicago and Illinois are beginning to wake up to how Democratic politicians have failed them, while local media is now bold enough to call out Democrat leadership for their failed policies. Though school choice remains a vital conservative policy goal—and one this paper and author wholeheartedly support—it is a difficult sell to the public in the near term. Therefore, statewide politicians should reclaim the “public school” issue from the Democrats and fight to make public education better.
Our kids deserve solutions now, before we lose another generation to the failure of adults in political and academic leadership roles.