A collage of what passes for school reform around here.

Correction: Thanks to John Merrow and several other readers for catching this error in the story below. As John points out: The Emerson Collective is run by Laurene Powell Jobs, not Mark Zuckerberg and Pricilla Chan. While there is a former USDE official working there, it's not Jim Shelton; it's Russlynn Ali.  I actually knew this and had it right on my Schooling in the Ownership Society post from a week ago. --- M.K. 

If somehow we could collage these four articles from today's Tribune, it would offer a realistic look at the current state of what passes for Chicago school reform:

Can Duncan save Lucas' ghastly Star Wars Museum?

Article #1 --Yes, Arne Duncan is back in town. In case you were worrying about whether or not Obama's former Ed Secretary would land on his feet after the Race To The Top Debacle, fear not. He's doing fine, thanks to billionaire friends like Mark Zuckerberg, Pricilla Chan, and George Lucas.

Zuckerberg and wife Pricilla hired Duncan for a leadership role in their so-called Emerson Collective where he joins up again with his own former U.S. Education Department deputy secretary Jim Shelton to advise of corporate-style reform and privatization matters.

No word yet on how much they're paying him. Whatever it is, it's just chump change to MZ. He's the guy who once dropped $100M to underwrite Newark's version of school reform under Gov. Christie and former mayor, Corey Booker. Nobody knows exactly how all that money was spent. But suffice to say, it hasn't done much to improve teaching/learning. Most of it, I'm told, went into the pockets of the charter school operators.

As backup, Arne has secured a spot on the Lucas Museum's Board of Directors. They are all hoping that this appointment leaves a glimmer of hope that the horrifically ugly Star Wars Museum will still end up on the city's valuable lakefront property, for free.

Duncan, who also served as Chicago Public Schools chief from 2001 to 2009,  previously worked at Ariel Investments, where George Lucas' wife, Mellody Hobson, is president. Ariel's CEO, John Rogers. has long been one of Duncan's benefactors.

Hey, if a man can't call on billionaire friends for a job, what kind of society have we become?
Right?

"Reform Specialist"

Article#2 -- A "reform specialist" retires. This Trib story about the retirement of North Chicago's Chief Education Officer Ben Martindale, refers to him as the district's "reform specialist" who got his high-paid position when the district (4,000 mainly poor and children of color) became the target of a state takeover five years ago.

Fast forward to today to see the only results the reformers seem to care about.

 On the academic front, only 10 percent of North Chicago students met or exceeded state standards in math and English language arts last year on the new statewide standardized exam called the Partnership for Assessment of Readiness for College and Careers, or PARCC, compared to 33 percent statewide, according to state data. About 7 percent of North Chicago students scored a combined score of at least 21 on the ACT, an indicator the state uses to determine college readiness, compared to 46 percent statewide.

"There's a lot of room left to go in terms of improvement," Martindale said.

Something to consider. Maybe the district's students needed something more than a state takeover and a "reform specialist."

Article#3 -- Rahm won't go to Springfield to lobby for CPS funding.
The reason, he's got no juice. Nobody, from Gov. Rauner to Speaker Madigan, gives a damn about what Rahm wants or thinks.

As it stood Tuesday, an Emanuel trip to the Capitol this week seemed unlikely, said top administration officials who were not authorized to discuss the mayor's schedule public.

 For the mayor, deciding whether to insert himself into the delicate situation at a stalemated Capitol carries some risk. Though he could claim some measure of credit if a funding bill that helps CPS passes following an eleventh-hour visit, Emanuel could get stuck with an even bigger share of the political blame if he goes there and the legislature then doesn't act on education funding, or passes a bill that doesn't help Chicago the way he wants.

So this isn't really about school funding, is it? Rahm won't advocate in Springfield for the school for fear of being rejected. Luckily thousands of union members heading for the capitol don't see it that way.

Schools are filthy but Magic cleans up. 

Article@4 -- Millions more for SodexoMAGIC.  So far, Rahm's privatization of custodial services has been a disaster for garbaged-up schools and their principals. But that won't stop the mayor from doubling down. 

The district, citing its bleak financial condition, privatized many building maintenance duties in 2014 but quickly started receiving complaints about dirty schools.

"These are the same companies with complaints against them for dirty, filthy schools," William Iacullo, president of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 143, told the school board Wednesday. "But you guys are going to reward them with an expansion."CPS has so far paid Johnson's company more than $37 million since the district's 2014 budget year, according to school records. The Aramark division responsible for school maintenance has received about $167 million.

So there's the picture. It ain't pretty. Is it? Reform needs reform.

War metaphors

Forrest Claypool, "wartime consigliere".

Some friends are critical of my use of war and military metaphors to describe the post-election atmosphere hanging over public employee unions, over city schools and over City Hall. But I'm sticking to my guns slingshot. It's war out here, folks. OK, it's one-sided class war to be sure, being waged by Gen. Arne Duncan, Gov. Private Equity and Mayor 1%, but war nevertheless.

Need more evidence? Look no further than Rahm's newly-appointed Chief of Staff Forrest Claypool, brought over from the CTA (like former schools CEO Ron Huberman --remember him?) to manage pension theft, negotiate a teachers contract, find a replacement for Byrd-Bennett (she's gone AWOL) and to cool out the feds investigation of the $20 million, no-bid SUPES deal.

S-T's Fran Spielman writes:

To do all of that without losing momentum on the mayor’s second-term agenda will require a wartime consigliere, to borrow a term made famous in the movie classic, “The Godfather.” Claypool fits the bill.

See!

POWs I couldn't help comparing the long prison sentences handed down to black educators involved in the Atlanta cheating scandal (convicted of "racketeering") with...No jail time for former CIA Director Gen. David "Betray Us" Petraeus who leaked military secrets to his bed-mate Paula Broadwell. Petraeus currently is with private equity giant Kohlberg Kravis Roberts.

Jon Stewart compared the “eerie” similarities between the Atlanta teacher cheating scandal with fraud on Wall Street, and discovered that the only difference between the two seems to be who was actually punished.

Want more? How about all the fuss over Spike Lee's naming of planned new film, "Chiraq"? Why not? Chicago streets have been turned into a war zone as a result of current policies of neglect, youth joblessness, school closings, easy access to guns, poor community policing strategies, etc...

It's war.

Rauner's dream: A state with no unions and more charters

Gov. Rauner used yesterday's State of the State speech to officially declare war on the state's working people and on public schools. His first order of business was calling for Illinois to join states like Mississippi and Alabama as union-free zones and for the banning of political contributions from teachers and other public employee unions. He then promised to cut workers' comp, unemployment benefits and to push for more privately run charter schools.

The Tribune reports:

The rookie chief executive and venture capitalist put his official stamp on proposals to let communities vote on right-to-work zones where jobs are scarce, scale back workers' compensation, rein in lawsuit damage awards and lower unemployment insurance rates.

 Gregory Baise, the president and CEO of the Illinois Manufacturers' Association, said the business community is upbeat for the first time in a long time. Now, he said, lawmakers must give the governor's pro-business bills consideration.

Rauner, Madigan & Cullerton

No surprise there. But what may have stunned some union leaders was how easily the gov's anti-labor mantra was gulped down by the state's Democratic Party leadership.

 House Speaker Michael Madigan, D-Chicago, did not summarily dismiss the Rauner proposals. "I wouldn't characterize anything as a non-starter," he said. "I agree with the governor that the state of Illinois needs a lot of work, a lot of attention."

The New York Times noted that:

 The reaction from Democrats, who control the state legislature, was remarkably muted, not dismissing the governor’s ideas out of hand.

Remember, Rauner can't get anything through the legislature without Democrat support. And if recent pension-theft legislation pushed by Madigan, Cullerton and Quinn is any indication, this won't be as difficult as some might have guessed.

Pushing so-called right-work-legislation is now the favorite tactic of right-wing politicians and their Koch Bros. patrons.

Let's see how Dems and public employee unions respond.

If you want to get down to the essentials of Rauner's agenda, look no further than his shutting down 30 social-service and youth-training organizations this week, along with a proposal to hire more prison guards. 

Get it?

Why the cavalry didn't come to save Quinn/Vallas

If Gov. Quinn is still waiting for cavalry from inner-city Chicago to arrive and pull out the election for him, he's going to be waiting a long, long time. From here it looks like there was little in the Quinn/Vallas campaign that excited either the black community, young voters, teachers or much of the union rank-and-file even while running against the worst person in the world. The Rauner scare just wasn't enough.

That's understandable given Quinn's self-description of "born for pension reform" and Vallas' practically single-handed elimination of New Orleans' public schools. The barrage of negative T.V. ads by both sides had little popular appeal and Quinn/Vallas ads spoke not a word of hope or offered anything in the way of programs or policies for black or Latino neighborhoods or for the state's poor and working people.

From an early look at things, most either held their noses and voted after standing in long lines in poorly-run polling places or stayed home. It's also pretty clear that Gov.-elect Rauner's wine-drinking pal and erstwhile Quinn supporter, Rahm Emanuel had little if any interest in gearing up the machine for this one and that many aldermen and precinct captains, with a few exceptions, sat this one out.

Despite the obscene amount of money (over $100 Million) spent by both candidates on this election, turnout in Chicago was down as much as 10% from four years ago. Rauner ended up spending about $30.50/vote while Quinn spent $17.31. Not exactly a grass-roots, populist campaign by either side.

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BLAME Brother Fred for Quinn/Vallas losss? OK.

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In predominantly African-American wards, turnout was not only was down but the GOP margin was up. For instance, Rauner got 10% of the vote in Cook County Board President Tony Preckwinkle's 4th Ward. The final numbers show that only 36.4% of registered voters in Chicago hit the polls on Tuesday. Chicago's 15th Ward has the lowest turnout at 22.2%. Turnout was also way down in the 3rd, 6th, and 8th wards. And all of that despite repeated trips to Chicago to stump for Quinn/Vallas by Pres. Obama, Joe Biden, and Michelle.

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ONE OF THE BIGGEST questions of the night: How did Gov. Pat Quinn drop nearly 100,000 votes Tuesday night in the city and suburban Cook compared to 2010 numbers? -- Natasha Korecki

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Bottom line is Quinn/Vallas lost by about 5% of the vote. We can only wonder how badly an authentic progressive Democrat (not just two pension-busting white guys) might have spanked Rauner and left his overpriced campaign and the IL Republican Party buried neath the neighborhoods, schools and union halls of Chicago.

More on the battle ahead coming up as Rauner tries to reach an accommodation with Boss Madigan, who still owns a veto-proof majority in the legislature and as progressives try and run a different kind of campaign to unseat Rahm in February.

As S-T columnist Mark Brown put it: "If he chooses to make the rights of working people his first target, though, he can expect a long four years."

Want to get your unqualified kid a teaching certificate? You know who to call...

If you're a powerful suburban billionaire like Bruce Rauner and you want to get your daughter into one of Chicago's elite selective-enrollment high schools like Walter Payton, you give a call to Arne Duncan or to his wife, Karen. They each carry clout lists and with a phone call or two, they can and usually will make it rain. Likewise, if you want to get your child into a good college internship program or a paid summer job. Only there you need to call Illinois Treasurer Dan Rutherford and tell him how big a contributor you are.

And in the same vein, if you're a campaign contributor to any one of a number of powerful IL pols and you want your kid to become a teacher or principal, without going through that bothersome qualification process, simply make a call to Mike Madigan's office and voilà, your child will likely be fast-tracked on the road to certification. Backdoor admission to the U. of I. is also one of Madigan's fortes.

This according to a Tribune investigation report.

State lawmakers have intervened repeatedly in Illinois' teacher licensing process, going to bat in some cases for candidates who did not meet state requirements and applicants with criminal pasts as well as for relatives, donors and constituents...

The newspaper found nearly 100 cases in the past five years in which lawmakers got involved in the system that determines who can work as classroom aides, teachers and school administrators or hold other jobs.

The cases are outlined in hundreds of pages of documents and email exchanges obtained by the newspaper, dating to 2009, when House Speaker Michael Madigan's office helped push a young woman's licensing case to the head of the line.

It shouldn't surprise anyone to learn that these very same pols and corporate reformers are the ones screaming the loudest about how teacher unions are defending bad teachers and who are supporting bills to take away teacher tenure and to void union contracts and teacher collective bargaining rights.

LIFE IN THE 'POST-RACIAL' ERA

A SMALLTALK SALUTE goes out to NBA Players Assoc. Pres. Chris Paul and the rest of the L.A. Clippers players who hung together in protest against the racism spewed by club owner Donald Sterling. Even though they were beaten by Golden State last night, they acted with dignity and grace. Though their protest was silent, nobody could mistake the clarity and forcefulness of their message.

STERLING -- "Don't bring them to my games."  EMANUEL -- "Don't bring them to my selective enrollment schools."  WHAT'S THE DIFF? Somebody tell me please.

From the Sun-Times:

The increase in the number of white students fulfills the predictions of education observers that minority students would be edged out of slots at the city’s top schools as a result of a 2009 ruling by U.S. District Judge Charles P. Kocoras lifting a 1980 consent decree that had required Chicago’s schools to be desegregated, with no school being more than 35 percent white. -- "White students getting more spots at top CPS high schools"

Kocoras' 2009 decision came only a long, intense campaign to have the consent decree vacated, led by Arne Duncan, his successor Ron Huberman and Mayor Daley, who saw the deseg struggle as futile and as a drain on district funds.

I'll say one thing about Duncan. He's consistent. He's against "forced integration." Although he did support a little affirmative action for the daughter of billionaire Bruce Rauner.

CAROLYN EDGAR @SALON.COM:

As we approach the 60th anniversary of the landmark decision in Brown v. Board of Education, it is a good time to acknowledge that the tools that dismantled Jim Crow 60 years ago are inadequate to address systemic inequality today. We need new tools to repair a socioeconomic, political and judicial system that, despite the numerous gains made in the last 60 years, remains separate and unequal. -- Modern racists just repeat conservative talking points: Donald Sterling, Cliven Bundy and the ugly face of GOP policies

A retired educator speaks out. Quinn steps up.

No vote was taken yesterday on the bill to abolish the state's ALEC-initiated Charter Commission. Maybe today. Word is that we need 3 more votes. Still time to call senators: Senator Mike Noland (D-Elgin) - (847) 214-8864 Senator Iris Martinez (D-Chicago) - (773) 463-0720 Senator Dan Biss (D-Skokie) - (847) 568-1250

Thanks go out to John J. Garvey, a retired Chicago public school teacher and administrator, for his powerful piece in Tuesday's Sun-Times, "Is this how we thank our teachers." I doubt that the pension busters in Springfield including Gov. Quinn (certainly not his billionaire political opponent Bruce Rauner) will even bother to read it. But I will share it with my students so they can enter the teaching profession, if they still choose to do so, with open eyes and a heart for struggle.

Quinn's budget speech

SPEAKING OF QUINN, of course I'm still pissed at him for signing SB1 but I liked his budget speech yesterday, calling for a spending proposal that would make permanent the 67% state income tax increase set to expire in 2015 and couple it with property tax relief for homeowners. The plan will hopefully generate enough revenue to increase badly-needed school funding. Quinn offers no real long-term solution to the budget crisis -- like a progressive taxing structure that makes the wealthiest and the corporations pay their fair share and shifting away from reliance on property taxes to pay for education -- but even this short-term patch should help keep schools open and save some teaching jobs.

"You've got to give the governor kudos for having the political courage ... to put the tax issue front and center in an election year when he knows his opponent is going to be screaming from the rafters the opposite message," said Ralph Martire, executive director of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability. "

As expected, Quinn's the speech was savaged by .01%er Rauner. But for me, the most interesting attack on Quinn's budget proposal came from Sen. Kirk Dillard who, in an interview last night with Carol Marin on Chicago Tonight, tried to outdo Rauner in opposing any tax increases and demanding that schools "live within their means" as a solution to the state's budget crisis. Dillard is calling for a billion-dollar cut in Chicago's education budget and for the "scrubbing of Medicaid rolls".

Remember, this is the guy, the man from ALEC, who narrowly lost to Rauner in the Republican primary due in large part to the help he received from the state's unions. They stuffed $3 million into Dillard's war chest and urged union members to cross over and vote for him. He's also the guy that IEA leaders are still calling a "friend of education." What?

Killing rats and beavers

Word is that the mayor is freaking out and berating his staff over being outflanked by Ald. Fioretti in the rat fight.

"The rat problem in our city is out of control," Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) said Wednesday. "They carry diseases that negatively impact our communities. We urgently need to do more to stem the population growth. This is a quality-of-life issue that we should be dealing with more effectively in our city." -- DNAinfo

Fioretti, who could be readying for a run against Rahm in 2015, should also be nailing him on these damn potholes. I don't think I'm the only one yelling out expletives at the mayor every 50 feet as my car's suspension takes a beating,

Beaver Shot...Funniest Tweet comes from S-T's Natasha Korecki:

Rutherford would use an assault weapon on his property. "I’ll mow down the beaver. That’s my right as an American" #ILGOV

She's referring of course to Republican gov candidate Dan Rutherford, currently bringing up the campaign's rear (no PI), who used yesterday's candidates debate to let his yahoo base know he's a gun-toting beaver killer.

How our dues are being used...

There wouldn't be much else interesting in the GOP primary except for the millions of dollars being poured into the race behind Kirk "The Man from ALEC" Dillard, much of it coming from local unions including the IEA, IFT, and my own union, AFSCME, who are worried sick about RHINO billionaire and union-hater Bruce Rauner winning the primary.

I like that opponents have put arrogant Rauner on the defensive about his ties to Rahm Emanuel and the Chicago political machine.

Rauner was asked to explain his relationship to Emanuel, with whom he has vacationed and hired briefly at the investment firm Rauner once led. 

 “I’ve known him for many years. I’ve worked with him when he was in the private sector a little bit. And I’ve worked with him on school reform while he was mayor in Chicago. The mayors in Chicago control the schools. My wife and I have dedicated much of our life and our financial resources to school reform and I’ve worked with the mayors to do that,” Rauner said.

Problem is, Dillard's campaign, which received a big chunk of this union (and other) money directly, is using it to attack Rauner from the right, i.e., for his support for choice and marriage equality (see graphic above).

Critics within and outside of the contributing unions (including my brother Fred) have become the targets of embarrassed and discredited IEA leaders and their henchmen. Former IEA bigwigs like Bob Haisman and Ken Swanson are carrying water for current IEA Pres. Cindy Klickna and her crew, calling out any members or retirees  who dare question the policies of the leadership. It all started when IEA leaders supported anti-union legislation like SB-7 and touted it as a "model" of collaboration. Then there was their backing of a pension-robbing alternative bill to SB-1. Now it's all about the union's endorsement of ALEC leader Dillard.

This from blogger and pension activist Glen Brown:

 In the discussion over the IEA, the IFT and the AFSCME endorsement of ALEC’s Kirk Dillard, what has emerged is not so much the issue of who we should vote for. It’s also about the right to dissent from arbitrary, top-down decisions by the union leadership. And their vision of what our unions stand for. 

What seems to upset former IEA Presidents Haisman and Swanson is not so much the substance of the opposition to the decision to endorse, but rather that our voices are loud and that we create dissension. Shouldn’t a union member’s voice be loud? And what frightens them about democratic debate and dissent?

It should be clear by now that the IEA and NEA both need something like Chicago's CORE Caucus to fight for democracy within the unions and to have some say on how dues are being used.

Rahm -- 'I don't want to be a phony'

Nixon -- "I am not a crook"

Whenever a politician begins by saying something like Richard Nixon did -- "I am not a crook"--you immediately know that they are crooked. When Rahm Emanuel begins his Sun-Times interview with Fran Spielman by saying, "I don't want to be a phony..." well, you get my point.

I mean, how's this for phony?

"Trust me, I don’t want to close schools."

 "I have a lot [union] support..." 

“It’s not that I’m polarizing [or]…not polarizing.'

"I don't want to be a phony"

"CTA never had any of the problems that other mass transit systems had — not just here, but around the country."

"And our streets were plowed and  passable — not just for police and fire, but for everybody." 

"Bruce [Rauner] and I are friends, [but I] totally disagree with him 100 percent on policy...He didn’t help me. We worked on a transaction together. We worked on a SecurityLink transaction. ... We developed a friendship from there. But, we disagree with things... I’m helping Gov. Quinn."

Then he essentially takes credit for electing Bill Clinton, Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi and he implies that he's cut a deal with Toni Preckwinkle with her promising not to run against him in 2015. We'll have to see if he's phony or real on that one.

A SmallTalk Salute... goes out to the CTU for not going along with IFT Pres. Dan Montgomery's endorsement and praise of the man from ALEC, Kirk Dillard, in the Republican governor's race. According to CTU Communications:

 The decision to endorse the Hinsdale legislator who once served as state chair of the anti-labor American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), was made on Friday by the IFT but not the CTU.

Currently, the CTU is heavily invested in two local races. In the 26th legislative district the union fully supports community organizer Jhatayn "Jay" Travis, former executive director of the Kenwood Oakland Community Organization, who has a long and successful track record of standing up for working families.  In addition, CTU has endorsed Will Guzzardi in the 39th legislative district who has demonstrated a strong commitment to our issues.

UIC STRIKE, DAY 2. BUSES ROLL TO SPRINGFIELD

Hundreds of classes at the University of Illinois at Chicago were canceled Tuesday as part of the first faculty walkout in the school's history.

While faculty march outside UIC, busloads of teachers, cops, firefighters and other public employees are on their way from Chicago to the state capital this morning to confront legislators over their unconstitutional attack on our pensions.  The mass protest is being organized by the We Are One Coalition.

Real Deal...
I told you Jay Travis was the real deal. Running for State Rep in the 26th, she not just a good talker but will be in Springfield today rallying with thousands of teachers and other public sector workers.

The rally in Springfield comes on the heels of a Chicago Teachers Union report showing that public pensions generate tens of millions of dollars in economic activity across the city, and especially in some of the South Side zip codes that have been hit hardest by the recession, including in parts of the Illinois 26th District. Despite the vital importance of public sector jobs to the families of the 26th District, incumbent Representative Christian Mitchell voted last spring for Senate Bill 1, which slashed the retirement security of state-employed retirees and workers. Jay, who is challenging Representative Mitchell in the March 18 Democratic primary, is the only candidate in the race who supports efforts to overturn SB1.

Rauner/Duncan Soul mates...

Brother Fred takes note of the fact that billionaire, union-basher, public-space destroyer, Republican candidate for governor Bruce Rauner, talks to Arne Duncan "all the time." Don't miss his hilarious post. 

Steans

I deserve some kind of medal for successfully wading through Steans Family heiress Robin's interminable and vapid defense of Common Core testing madness. Steans somehow got the job of leading the corporate "reform" group, Advance Illinois, and was an architect of SB7. I suppose Catalyst has to print this crap or risk having their funding cut. But once you get the gist of it, you can skip down to the comments section where Valerie Leonard and others pose some good questions.

Lesser-of-two-evils theory on crack

Lesser-of-evils theory on crack. IEA Pres. Klickna endorses ALEC leader Dillard for governor.

The union is understandably worried about a Rauner victory. But still... The union gave Dillard’s campaign $250,000 along with a cadre of political foot soldiers. "These are dark days for active and retired Illinois teachers. Sad, dark days," says blogger Ken Previti. 

Brother Fred writes:

I truly don’t get why the IEA leadership wants to throw away a quarter million bucks on Dillard. And worse, prettify his putrid record, including his chairmanship of Illinois ALEC. 

 They say they have a letter that says he resigned “last year.” But it turns out that “last year” was four months ago. I have asked for a copy of the letter but have not received one. And a Google search comes up blank on his resignation as head of ALEC in Illinois. I’d be interested in reading why he was Chairman of this group for so long and why he quit only four months ago.

UIC Strike...
Today  tenure track and non-tenure track faculty who make up the University of Illinois-Chicago faculty union UICUF Local 6456 are out on the picket line this morning, the beginning of  a two-day strike. The union is asking for a 4.5% pay raise for 2014, while the university is offering 3.25%. UIC Art Professor Therese Quinn said, “There are many people who have PhDs, who are full-time faculty here and I’ve heard that they’re earning $30,000 a year, which is very low for someone who’s spent so many years in school.”

"One of our issues in this strike is to take back decision-making power over the issues that matter to us — curriculum, teaching conditions, the distribution of monies, and the like.  The administration is fighting ferociously to retain that power — since giving it up would in effect be returning it from management to workers. " -- Read more at Jacobin Magazine

Pension Rally Tomorrow...
The CTU will join other public sector unions at a rally in Springfield Wednesday to lobby against pension reductions. --WGN

NPE Backs Baraka...
I'm heading for Austin, Texas in two weeks for the Network For Public Education (NPE) conference where I will be leading a Movement Building panel. This morning I was glad to hear that NPE has endorsed Ras Baraka for mayor of Newark.

Councilman Baraka had a long career as an educator – ten years as an elementary teacher, and twelve as an administrator. He also served as a teachers union representative for five years. This experience gives him a deep understanding of the challenges facing our schools, which was reflected in his responses to the questions posed by NPE.

Councilman Baraka said, “…our focus must be on strengthening, and enhancing our traditional public schools as the core educational reform strategy.” He is an advocate of small class sizes, and supports the right of parents to control their students’ private data. He is aware of the flaws in the corporate reform model now being implemented in Newark, and told us: “The notion that teachers are solely responsible for educational outcomes of children is a political view that is unsubstantiated by any research.

Sorry Rahm. Rauner's toast.

 If “we don’t fundamentally change direction, we’re toast.” -- Bruce Rauner campaign ad

Sorry Rahm. But your boy Rauner is toast. I know, I know, you're officially supporting Quinn, the Democrat, in the governor's race. But, everyone knows you and Rauner are tight. Even though he's supposedly a Republican, he's been one of your many wealthy patrons you're counting on to get yourself re-elected in 2016 and prevent a Chicago de Blasio scenario. He's also your guy when it comes to school closings, smashing teacher unions, and expanding privately-run charters.

Being a Republican for billionaires like Rauner, is like being a member of the Chicago Yacht club. It's not a political statement, it's a statement about your class. Even fellow state Republicans aren't buying it. And like you, he's not even a real Chicagoan. He's an interloper who bought an apartment here so his kid could go to Walter Payton, one of the city's top selective-enrollment schools. Of course it also took a phone call to pal, Arne Duncan, who then made a phone call, and so on. Even the wealthiest in Rahmville, need "a guy." Isn't that how you started out?

But Rauner's problem, like his prototype Romney, is that he lacks the self-discipline to pull off the populist charade ("I'm not a career politician") needed to get himself elected governor. Sooner or later, even with their newly-minted starched plaid shirts and Eddie Bauer vests, these guys can't help but blurt out there disdain for working people and those living in poverty and they become a political embarrassment. Remember Romney's "47%" video?

In Rauner's case, despite all the money he spent on flacks and messaging experts, he just couldn't get his shit together on the overwhelmingly popular issue of raising of the minimum wage (not even talking about a living wage). Despite his previous denials and flip[ant]-flops, after saying he favored cutting the MW by a buck and hour, newly-surfaced September video has him proclaiming Romney-style, that he's ‘adamantly, adamantly’ against raising the minimum wage.

He's basically handed over the Gov's race to Quinn who has his own problems after the great pension robbery and his reviving the political corpse of Republicrat Paul Vallas.

Like I said, Rahm. He's toast.

Not so funny thing is --- Rauner's GOP rival, most likely to get union support in the primary, is even worse on MW than Rauner. Sen. Kirk Dillard says he's against the government setting ANY minimum wage wants the “marketplace” to decide how much or how little workers should be paid. He probably thinks slavery or involuntary servitude could put the state's businesses in a more competitive position.

And speaking of toast... Chris Crispy Christie.

Making learning authentic

With attacks mounting on colleges of education, including from Sec. of Ed Arne Duncan, I'm happy to read the occasional story about good young teachers who learned their skills in good teacher training programs. Yesterday's piece in DNAinfo gives us a snapshot of 5th-grade teacher Heather Reed at Chicago's Pritzker Elementary, teaching the way it's supposed to be done. Ms. Reed comes out of DePaul's teacher ed program.

Now in her eighth year of teaching at Pritzker School, Reed said her approach to teaching "relies heavily on making learning authentic to my students" because "if a topic doesn't matter to them, or they can't find something interesting in it, they're not very likely to understand or remember it."

Quotables

Billionaire Rauner

Bruce Rauner

“Capitalism is the greatest poverty-fighting machine in the history of mankind, and I’m proud of the role I’ve played in it,” says Rauner who reported his last year net income at $53 million. -- Sun-Times

Alderman Harry Osterman

"We don't need a charter school. we don't need another high school in Edgewater. We have one." -- DNAinfo

Jitu Brown (KOCO)

"That is not a choice. This [closing of Dyett H.S.] is displacement by force. This historic neighborhood, we feel, is being gutted." -- DNAinfo

Diane Ravitch

 It seems to me that we are thinking about children, teachers, and schools the same way we think about sports teams. In every league, there are winners and losers. But if we think about education as a culture that is very different from that of a competitive sports league, then the picture and the questions change. -- Huffington

WEEKEND VALLAS QUOTABLES

Vallas (right) was beaten by Rod Blagojevich (left) in '02. 

Fran Spielman

Sources said Vallas alienated teachers unions by privatizing some New Orleans schools and forging partnerships with Connecticut Republicans in a desperate attempt to hang onto his job there. -- Sun-Times

Carol Felsenthal

[Paul's brother] Dean Vallas supported conservative Republican Brady against Quinn in 2010 because he thought Quinn lacked “the political skills to navigate around a Mike Madigan." -- Chicago Magazine

CTU Pres. Karen Lewis

"While he was CEO of the Chicago Public Schools, Vallas pioneered the corporate driven education model in our city. His policies continue to devastate our schools system, which recently suffered 50 school closures, deep and painful school budget cuts, and the loss of thousands of experienced school staff are key tenets of the Vallas model." -- Examiner

Lindsay Farrell, executive director of the Connecticut Working Families Party

"It's not surprising Vallas is leaving town. His brand of corporate reform turned out to be toxic, and the voters have rejected him. But the last thing he deserves is a promotion." -- The Courant

Eric Zorn

Vallas, like Quinn, is a balding white guy in his 60s from a fading political era — he ran a close second to Rod Blagojevich for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination in 2002 ... I like the Vallas choice in part for that reason — Vallas is the only candidate for lieutenant governor who's clearly ready to take over the top job if necessary.  -- Chicago Tribune

Send lawyers, guns and money...

The shit has hit the fan

It’s shocking to hear that Cook County Assessor Joe Berrios’ name would come up in a discussion of questionable activity. SHOCKING, I say. -- Evening Rush 

Rahm & Joe "The Boss" Berrios

I no sooner finished responding to Laura Washington, who practically wrote off the anti-Rahm opposition in upcoming elections, than a significant chunk of the mayor's team imploded.

It started with reports of another layer of UNO scandal.

Sun-Times reported that the federal Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating UNO for possible securities fraud related to state-backed bonds used to finance school construction projects. This is the second time this year that Quinn has suspended UNO’s funding.

 D’Escoto Inc., is listed on the board’s agenda as a minority-owned business subcontractor for construction projects under CPS’ capital improvement plan. The $4.3 million project director services contract is slated to be awarded to the Jacobs Project Management Company, according to the agenda. If approved, D’Escoto stands to earn about 17.5 percent, or about $731,000, according to CPS spokeswoman Becky Carrol

Remember, UNO boss Juan Rangel, who's likely to take the fall in the SEC investigation, served as finance chairman of Emanuel’s mayoral campaign and has been involved in countless financial dealings with the mayor, Ald. Eddie Burke, and House Speaker Mike Madigan.

Berrios' favorite, "Lettuce Salad"

Then the story broke about Cook County Democratic Party Chairman Joe "The Boss" Berrios being implicated in a bribe taking, tax fraud sting. One FBI informant was taped boasting that he was “with Berrios... having lettuce salads.” I don't think he was talking arugula.

“You know, with the lettuce, say here you go, man — sign this. Put this through right away,” Hawkins was taped saying.

 A timely gift for candidate Will Guzzardi who is running for State Rep. against Berrios' daughter and protege Toni. Berrios has 15 members of his family on the county and state payrolls. I think she's toast.

And finally, the internal war within the state Democratic Party exploded with State. Senator Cullerton gang banging with Republican billionaire and Rahm's patron, Bruce Rauner over how badly to stick it state retirees.

Crain's Greg Hinz says: 

But for those who are really curious why nothing happens, take a careful look at recent comments by a political odd couple: Illinois Senate President John Cullerton, a true blue North Side liberal, and investment banker Bruce Rauner, the tough guy GOP candidate for governor who stands behind no one in his vows to put worker unions in their place.

 Thieves inevitably fall out. That's why there are no certainties in Chicago politics.

How did this guy get hired by Arne Duncan? He had a guy.

Jesus Alanis sentenced to 20 years in Stateville. 

How did this child molester/pornographer land a high-paying job working for Arne Duncan at the top of the Chicago Public Schools system? That's an easy one.

The same way Arne Duncan got his own job. He had a guy. In his case it was venture capitalist power broker John Rogers who made a phone call and had golf buddy Mayor Daley tell schools CEO Paul Vallas to bring the unqualified Duncan on board as his assistant. Of course,Vallas obliged and the rest as they say, is history.

The same way billionaire pal of Rahm Emanuel and Republican candidate for governor, Bruce Rauner, got his kid into Walter Payton High School. He had a guy. All it took was phone call to Duncan.

The same way that convicted fraud and bribe-taker Amer Ahmad was hired by Rahm to fill one of the city's top financial positions, five months after he had been under federal investigation. He also had a guy.

In the same fashion, machine Ald. Danny Solis made a phone call to Duncan and said, "I got this guy, Alanis..."

What were Jesus Alanis' qualifications? None. Had he ever been a teacher? No. Did he have any experience at all in public education? No. Then, what in his background might make the CEO of the Chicago Public Schools want to put him in a high-paying job at the top of the city's school system?

He had worked since 2008 for the city’s Human Resources Department, where he made $80,904 a year in a post that, as a political appointment, was exempt from anti-patronage restrictions. 

Alanis says on his online profile that he previously worked for Ald. Danny Solis (25th) and for the United Neighborhood Organization, a community group that operates the largest charter-school network in Illinois. Alanis was a 2005 graduate of UNO’s Metropolitan Leadership Institute, a training program for young Hispanic professionals. According to profile information he provided to that program, he worked on immigration issues for UNO. His sister Veronica Alanis is a high-ranking Chicago Transit Authority official who, until recently, was a longtime member of UNO’s board. Jesus Alanis went to work for City Hall when longtime UNO lawyer Homero Tristan was commissioner of the Human Resources Department, city records show. -- Sun-Times

A couple of weeks ago, the city's Inspector General, Joe Ferguson, was reappointed for another four-year term — with the unwritten understanding that he’s likely to step down after next summer — in spite of his contentious relationship with the mayor. By mutual agreement with the mayor, Ferguson's job will be limited to, "end[ing] four decades of federal hiring oversight." 

Ferguson thanked the mayor for “agreeing to allow me to continue to work on wrapping up some unfinished projects, most notably achieving Shakman compliance and fully implementing the administration’s ethics reform bill.” 

If you ever needed a good reason to keep the Shakman Decree in effect, just think about Jesus Alanis.

Chicago Republicrats

There are no real Democrats or Republicans in Chicago. The only symbol saluted here is neither the donkey nor the elephant, but the dollar sign. They've even abandoned the two-party system, for electing the mayor. And statewide, now you have two former Obama chiefs of staff and his former Secretary of State, seemingly cutting a deal to help a Republican venture capitalist candidate for governor defeat an incumbent Democrat.

Sneed reports that Bill Daley, the man from J.P. Morgan and former White House Chief of Staff, upon pulling out of the gubernatorial race — called incumbent Quinn "a loser" and pumped Republican gubernatorial candidate Bruce Rauner as "the strongest contender". Rauner is also a long-time pal and patron of the mayor -- himself a former Obama COS -- who has been telling insiders he wants Quinn out. Then into the fray jumps Hillary Clinton, to fire a barb at Quinn ("He's the luckiest politician...").

Daley drops out of race.

I haven't seen anything like this since 1983 when the entire Democratic Party machine turned Republican overnight, following the primary election victory of Harold Washington, who would become the city's first African-American mayor. Their slogan was "Bernard Epton before it's too late."

Funny thing is, there's hardly a dime's worth of difference between Rauner, Quinn, Daley or Rahm on the main issues of the day, which include raiding retirees' pension funds and protecting the corporations from having to pay their fair share of taxes to support public education and solve the budget crisis. This is a falling out among thieves.

******

After trying like hell to get rid of his Inspector General Joe Ferguson, Rahm retreated under public pressure and allowed IG Joe to stay on. But only on the condition that Ferguson abandon his 4-year contract after one year and limit his "investigative work" to helping Rahm get out from under Shakman constraints on political patronage.

I don't know why Ferguson agreed to such a deal, but if there was ever a good reason to keep Shakman intact, it's Rahm Emanuel. Greg Hinz at Crain's gives us the most recent example.

The successor to indicted Chicago comptroller Amer Ahmad has jumped to a private company that he may have helped extend and expand a lucrative city contract... Earlier in the week, I reported that acting Comptroller Andy Sheils is moving to Florida to take a job at a Fort Lauderdale medical-services provider. What I didn't know then was that the company, via a subsidiary, is a major vendor for Chicago, netting nearly $19 million since 2007 on a controversial contract that Mr. Sheils administered and worked on extending.

Says the BGA's Andy Shaw, “Since this is indirectly connected to the alleged criminal activity in Ohio of Chicago's former city comptroller, the BGA hopes that federal investigators here in Chicago are watching these new local developments with their usual microscopic vision."

I hope so too. Where are you, feds? You don't need a microscope.

Not letting a good crisis go to waste, Philly Supt. goes after seniority rights

“You never let a serious crisis go to waste." -- Rahm Emanuel

If you doubt that the current school budget crisis is in large part, a manufactured one, just take a look a Philly where Supt. William Hite is using his crisis to suspend teacher seniority rights. He knows that lots of teachers are going to be called back to work if schools are to open in the fall. So he's asking the School Reform Commission to suspend parts of the state education code at an emergency meeting today.

The move would allow him to override the bargaining agreement with  the union and replace higher-paid, experienced teachers with cheaper 5-week TFA wonders and other newbies. The state's largest district has laid off about 3,800 employees, from assistant principals to nurses and guidance counselors, in an effort to stem rising costs and close a projected $304 million deficit.

The same strategy is being used by Chicago's Mayor Emanuel, who's hallmark quote above says it all. Rahm has become infamous for taking away a lot and giving back some, in exchange for workplace concessions and undermining the contract and the State Constitution (on pensions). Despite the claimed $1-billion budget shortfall, which is the excuse for the districts's planned massive school closures, Rahm is continuing to open dozens of new, expensive, privately-managed charters, at the same time, in the same neighborhood. Who would do that if the budget crisis was real?

In all this, Rahm and the Democrats are carrying out a right-wing political agenda hatched in ALEC's offices. His fidelity to his conservative corporate patrons is coming clear and is close to being an embarrassment and a political liability. In an ironic twist, conservative Republican candidate Bill Brady attacks his main primary opponent, billionaire douchebag Bruce Rauner, for being too close to Rahm.

According to the New York Times, Rahm once represented GTCR Golder Rauner, a Chicago private equity firm that was buying the business for an affiliate. Rauner, the firm’s chairman, had first met Rahm when he was still exploring job prospects in Chicago.  Instead of private equity, Rauner advised Emanuel to pursue investment banking, where his political experience might be more valuable in landing deals in regulated industries. 

Fred Klonsky art

Rauner also helped bankroll Rahm's mayoral campaign. In return, Rham appointed Rauner to the board of World Business Chicago, the city's economic development arm. According to the Tribune,  Rauner, an anti-union charter school advocate, was also placed on the board of the Chicago Public Education Fund. He reportedly met more than a dozen times with Chicago Public Schools officials during the initial nine-month period that new CPS chief Jean-Claude Brizard's team was organizing policy.

The question is, why is the Rahm/Rauner romance an embarrassment to the GOP and not to Rahm supporters?

'I thought these days were behind us' -- Rev. Tyson

From North Carolina to the streets of Chicago -- they are not behind us



They Canceled Class Today — All The Teachers Got Arrested While Protesting For Voting Rights

From the Sun-Times:

A group of parents — backed by the Chicago Teachers Union — wants Judge John Z. Lee to delay the closures for a year while they carry on their fight in court. They say in two class-action lawsuits that black and disabled students will be unfairly affected by the closures.

Lee on Thursday declined the parents’ request to issue a preliminary injunction against the closures before the school year ends, but he said he’d hear evidence at a hearing starting July 16.

During heated exchanges with lawyers for the Board of Education and the City of Chicago, parents’ attorney Thomas Geoghegan warned there would be “a bloodletting of special-educational needs students over the summer.”

BTW --- Judge Lee is an Obama appointee and a former associate with Mayer Brown. That's the Chicago (global) powerhouse law firm that handled Rahm's residency case when he was running for mayor.

At the time Obama appointed him, Judge Lee was a partner  at the law firm of Freeborn & Peters. Peter Mason, the founding member of Freeborn & Peters is one of  Bruce Rauner's top advisers as Rauner prepares to run for governor of Illinois. Republican billionaire Rauner, as you may know, had Arne Duncan clout his own kid into the exclusive Walter Payton  high school. Rauner, a close friend and big campaign donor of Rahm,  is Chairman of the Education Committee of the Civic Committee and is an active proponent of privately-run charter schools and a hater of the Chicago Teachers Union.

Good luck on that lawsuit, my friends.

What's the not-so-hidden curriculum at Walter Payton College Prep?

I know that Payton kids score high on standardized tests. The question is, what are they learning? What's the hidden curriculum?

Payton was in the news twice last week. Once for being the school of choice for the rich and powerful within CPS's two-tier system of supposedly public education. The other for its refusal to allow their baseball team to play a game at predominantly-black Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep in Roseland. Don't you love all this College Prep stuff?

Whether it's billionaire clout monger, Bruce Rauner buying his kid's entry through Payton's back door, from Arne Duncan, or parents' racist elitism (what else could it be? No north-side student has ever been harmed playing sports at Brooks) the school, which admits a third of its students from private elementary schools, has now become a poster child for this city's apartheid education system, a system that will only be reinforced through the mayor's closing of 54 schools, nearly all in the African-American community.

Walter Payton graduated high school in Mississippi in '72.

Kudos to Brooks coach, Herbert Redmond for calling the Payton snub for what it was -- "racism", and to coach Bryan Street for refusing to schedule any more games with Payton's baseball team. As a high school coach myself, I think all our school teams should follow suit and boycott Payton.

Shame on CPS liar-in-chief Becky Carroll and CPS officials who tried to cover-up the incident, telling the press it was a "scheduling and transportation problem."

Payton, which was built on the ruins of the formerly black community around Cabrini Green, should also be forced to change its name. Their actions dishonor the name of Chicago Bears football legend Walter Payton, who graduated high school in 1972 and had to play within Mississippi's segregated system of school athletics. Payton's own school, Jefferson High in Columbia, was "integrated" with neighboring Columbia High School, but Payton and his teammates boycotted spring practice when their head coach, Charles L. Boston, had to take an assistant's job to Columbia's white coach. Payton's battle against segregation left a lasting mark on him as I'm sure it will on many Brooks' snubbed student/athletes.

In fairness, it's not the students who are the problem here. Payton students have a great track record when it comes to speaking out against racism and elitism.