Hanging with the wrong crowd

If Rahm Emanuel were to become Chicago's next mayor, expect more of the same--more school closings, more teacher firings, more privatization. Why?


Emanuel is talking to all the wrong Chicago people about education. It's the same old Ownership Society crowd that dreamed up Renaissance 2010 (I know. We're not supposed to mention that word any more). Even the Civic Committee called the results, "abysmal."

They're the Pritzkers; they're Mayor Daley's patronage boys, like Juan Rangel; they're the hedge-fund charter guys like Bruce Rauner; and they're the power philanthropists who long ago ceded leadership of Chicago's foundation community over to Bill Gates. Missing from the back room was...well, you know who was missing. Who's always missing?

Last week, Emanuel trickled out some details about his education platform to the Tribune, saying he would like to see a local, privately funded version of the federal education competition called Race to the Top, the signature Obama administration plan that rewarded states vowing to reform public schools. (Clout Street)