WEEKEND QUOTABLES

A meeting held Sunday at a packed auditorium at CTU headquarters had
the vibe of a victory rally. Several dozen union members sang and
performed a dance onstage swapping the words to the popular “Baby
Shark” song with verses such as “fair contract,” “smaller class” and
“we just won.”

CTU Prez Jesse Sharkey

“Across the country, we were told that education is the key to the future, but then we saw political leaders starve our schools, keep resources out of the classroom. We’ve seen taxes cut so wealthy people can have tax breaks, teacher pay stagnate while class sizes skyrocket, classes become bare-bones and not get the resources they need. We’ve seen people take to the street across the country to protest against that, and now it’s coming to the charter industry too. It’s about time.” -- USA Today

Katie Cannady, Acero kindergarten teacher 

“Why do we think it’s okay to expect teachers in one part of the city to work for this amount and teachers in another part of the city to work for different amount and then expect us to have the same results under very different working conditions?” -- USA Today

Martha Baumgarten, a fifth-grade teacher at Acero’s Carlos Fuentes Elementary School and a member of the bargaining team. 

“They’ve been crying broke, when in fact they’re flush with cash." -- Salon

Prof. Timuel Black

Lonnie Bunch on Tim Black's 100th birthday

“What is really important to me, is that Tim is also the keeper of the flame. He keeps the history of black Chicago alive, reminding us that civil rights is an ongoing struggle." -- Timuel Black — historian, civil rights activist, griot

Head of IL legislative Progressive Caucus, Rep. Will Guzzardi

Recently threw down an online gauntlet about how Illinois “must not” follow the lead of Colorado Democrats, who after taking over their state’s legislature have now signaled that they’ll be more open to negotiations with the business community. 

“People elected us because we said we'd make their lives better. Raise their wages, provide decent benefits, make college and healthcare more affordable, etc. We ran on this. We won. And now... we run away? If so, why vote for us at all?” -- Rich Miller in The Southern

State Dept. Spokesman on US opposing UN global warming report

 “The United States was willing to note the report and express appreciation to the scientists who developed it, but not to welcome it, as that would denote endorsement of the report. As we have made clear in the [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] and other bodies, the United States has not endorsed the findings of the report.” -- Washington Post

No Nekritz, No Burke, please

Fred Klonsky

It seems nobody is quite sure why Lisa Madigan has suddenly decided to step down from her attorney general post. It's especially bewildering since Madigan just sued the city of Chicago, asking a federal court to stop the city's police department from engaging in what the suit calls a "pattern of using excessive force" and other discriminatory misconduct against Chicago's African-American and Latino residents.

Did she find a horse head in her bed?

State Rep. Elaine Nekritz wants to replace Madigan as IL Attorney General. She tells POLITICO that the AG post is an even better fit for her and that she is seriously considering a run. "I think there is a path for someone like me. I want to keep this option open," she said.

But I say, no no no. No path.

We still remember that Nekritz was one of the architects of the pension-theft bill that was ruled unconstitutional by the state Supreme Court. Anyone with such disregard for the state's Constitution and disdain for the state's pensioners, shouldn't be trusted with it's top prosecutor's job.

The question is, what's wrong with POLITICO's Natasha Korecki? She calls Nekritz's pension theft debacle, the "crowning period" in her legislative career.

The AG candidate swamp gets even swampier...Next in a line of opportunists stepping forward for a chance at Madigan's job is Jennifer Burke (who?). Oh, that Burke. Yes, she's the daughter of the city's most powerful and most premier machine alderman (going back to the Harold Washington days), Eddie Burke, whose wife Anne already sits on the State Supreme Court. A win for little Burke would mean a hat trick for Eddie. I guess he figures, if Mike Madigan's kid can hold the job, why not his?

Burke and Trump

Jennifer's qualifications? A job at daddy's law firm and then an appointment by then-Gov. Pat Quinn to a post at the Illinois Pollution Control Board. You mean you didn't know, she was a "pollution expert"?

It's worth mentioning that prior to Jennifer's appointment, Eddie Burke lent $200,000 and gave an additional $52,000 to Quinn’s campaign.

The topper... According to Clout Street, daddy gave Cook Democratic Party Chairman, Joe Berrios, a "heads-up" over the weekend that his daughter was circulating petitions to run for attorney general.

Berrios is the county's tax assessor and a close ally of Cook County Board President, Toni Preckwinkle. Burke's law firm, Klafter and Burke, specializes in representing clients in property tax appeals before the Cook County Assessor's Office. Get it?

Burke's firm helped Donald Trump cut property taxes on his downtown Chicago hotel by nearly 40% over seven years, saving Trump and his investors $11.7 million at the expense of city tax payers. Yes, let's put Jennifer Burke in the AG post. You bet.

As you may recall, Berrios is also the state's master of nepotism. He's notorious for loading the bureaucracy with his family members. His daughter Toni was a state rep who lost her seat to progressive, Will Guzzardi.

Now we need a Guzzardi-type progressive (Kim Foxx?) to step up and defeat the likes of Burke and Nekritz and drain the swamp.

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Saying "no" to school vouchers on Friday's Hitting Left radio were parent activists Wendy Katten and Cassie Creswell along with a group of Chicago high school youth organizers. Listen in here. 

32nd Ward Ald. Scott Waguespack

 "No self-respecting Democrat should accept this brazen Rauner-Trump-DeVos tactic to decimate public schools, rob our children's classrooms of resources and weaken teachers' unions." -- DNAInfo

State Rep. Will Guzzardi

 "Giving rich people a tax loophole for driving students out of public schools and into private schools goes against many of my core beliefs." -- DNAInfo

State Sen. Daniel Biss

 “The private school voucher program doesn’t help create a more equitable education system—it’s a false choice, and just the latest example of Rauner putting millionaires over the middle class." -- Capitol Fax 

47th Ald. Ameya Pawar

 “It is dead wrong to give vouchers and tax credits to private or parochial schools. Using taxpayer money to fund private schools benefits the children of wealthy families at the expense of the rest of the state.” -- Capitol Fax

Rex Tillerson

 'The president speaks for himself'. -- Guardian

Editorial Observer Elizabeth Williamson

Mr. Trump’s staff can’t control him, so they coddle him. They make sure he starts his day with a packet of good news about himself, compiled by Republicans who get up early to search for positive stories, headlines, tweets or, failing those, flattering photos. “Maybe it’s good for the country that the president is in a good mood in the morning,” one of the Republicans said. -- NYT Sunday Review

I am pleased to inform you that I have just granted a full Pardon to 85 year old American patriot Sheriff Joe Arpaio. He kept Arizona safe!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 26, 2017

I will be voting against any school funding bill that contains a tax break for private scholarship donations. #twill

— Will Guzzardi 🖇 (@WillGuzzardi) August 25, 2017

Guzzardi's bill would limit charter expansion. Sends INCS into panic mode.

Rep. Will Guzzardi calling for limits on the expansion of privately-run charters in IL

The charter hustlers at INCS are in panic mode. Until recently, they've been riding a wave of rapid expansion of privately-run charter schools even as seats in many of their charters remain unfilled and while hundreds of neighborhood public schools are being closed or severely underfunded.

INCS sent out a mass mailing Friday, warning their base that...

On Tuesday, March 28, 2017, at 2:00 pm, Rep. Will Guzzardi (D-Chicago), will debate HB3567, a bill that will place a 10-year or longer ban on charter public schools across the state. This bill will limit the educational options of Illinois' families, and disproportionately affect communities currently without high-quality open-enrollment public schools. Thousands of children and families across Illinois need your help to stop this harmful bill.

The INCS letter is misleading. HB3567 doesn't place a 10-year ban (or any ban) on charters. It doesn't call for the closing of a single charter school in the state. Nor does it "limit the education options" of a single student. Rather, the bill is aimed at restricting the unlimited expansion of privately-run charters in districts that can't afford to build or operate them. The bulk of Illinois’ 857 school districts would not be affected. In 2016, ISBE reported 32 school districts on the financial watch list — the state’s worst rating — and another 61 a step above on the financial early warning list.

Lauren FitzPatrick, writes in the Sun-Times:

The bill introduced Friday by state Rep. Will Guzzardi, D-Chicago, would block the opening of any new charter campuses in any school districts with the Illinois State Board of Education’s two lowest financial ratings. The Chicago Public Schools system has been on that list for years.

 “Our priority must be investing in the schools we have,“ Guzzardi said Monday outside Prosser Career Academy High School on the Northwest Side, where he was accompanied by other lawmakers, members of the Chicago Teachers Union and parents from the neighborhood.

“If your district is broke, take care of the schools you have before you open new schools,” Guzzardi said. “This isn’t about shutting down any charter schools that are already here.”

Rep. Guzzardi is right, as usual.

His bill would also constrain Gov. Rauner's appointed State Charter Commission from overruling local school districts who turn down applications for new charter schools they don't want or can't afford.

It's significant that Guzzardi made his pitch for the new bill on the street outside of Prosser Career Academy. Despite neighborhood protests,  Noble Charter Network opened a franchise directly across the street from Prosser, hoping to recruit Prosser's best students.

I suppose, INCS expected to continue charter expansion unabated, especially with Trump in the White House and Betsy DeVos running the DOE. But proponents of uncapped charter expansion were defeated by Massachusetts voters last November, despite spending million of dollars to pass their expansion proposition.

IL needs to follow their lead. Guzzardi's bill is a good one and needs to be supported.

Right on, Rep. Will Guzzardi

Logan Squarist

After his stunning victory over his machine opponent, people (including me) warned him that he wouldn't be able to do too much as a freshman legislator. Boy were we wrong. Despite swimming with the sharks and battling our sociopath Gov. Rauner down in Springfield, Rep. Will Guzzardi has become a leader in the fight for public education and on other progressive initiatives. Among others, he's championed the cause for an elected school board and an end to Rahm Emanuel's autocratic rule over Chicago Public Schools.

Will's latest campaign is for free tuition at state schools for Illinois residents, paid for, in part with a "millionaire's surcharge".

Illinois Rep. Will Guzzardi (D) has posted a petition online to gather support for free tuition at state schools for Illinois residents. He announced a new coalition called Tuition Free Illinois, which he’s spearheading, to gather support for the effort. Tuition Free Illinois includes Chicago Votes, Chicago Student Action, Young Chicago Authors and College Democrats of Illinois.

“I suspect that this will be very difficult to pass in the current political climate,” Guzzardi writes in an email to LoganSquarist. “But we’re going to push, and we’re going to work to elect leaders who will support these kinds of bold progressive ideas.” -- Logan Squarist

Thanks Will. And keep on pushin'. We've got your back.

Check out Will's Facebook page and sign his petition here. 

Somebody help me here. What's up with the 'Let-Trump-Win' strategy?

As readers of this blog know, I am a Sanders supporter and have been among the loudest critics of Hillary Clinton and the regular Democratic Party for many years, especially around education reform issues.

I supported Fanny Lou Hamer's Mississippi Freedom Democrats when they tried to get seated at the '64 and '68 conventions. I was one of the thousands in the streets at the 1968 Convention when we faced a "police riot" and turned Chicago and Mayor Daley's Democratic machine upside down protesting the war and racism. The Democrats were definitely the war party back then and the party of racial segregation in the South. Hubert Humphrey was their candidate -- not ours.

Some say our protests handed the election to Nixon. I doubt it. But I'll own part of it.

So why am I having such a hard time understanding some of my die-hard lefty/progressive friends in Philly? (Long sentence coming. Hold your breath). 

1968 Democratic Convention in Chicago

Why would you go into the Democratic Party behind Bernie Sanders' highly successful and dynamic campaign in the first place, mobilizing hundreds of thousands of young activists around key issues (Fight For 15), win significant battles (not all) with DNC regulars in the Platform Committee (including on the education plank), super-delegates, force the removal of the DNC chair, cheer ecstatically the speeches of the party stalwarts (Michelle Obama, Elizabeth Warren, Corey Booker), and then announce to the press that, despite Bernie's endorsement, you are not going to support the party's candidates vs. Trump/Pence?

Clearest articulation of the let-Trump-win strategy is perpetual Green Party candidate Jill Stein. 

.@DrJillStein on the votes of Sanders supporters: "If you have to lose an election in order to establish power, then you have to do that"

— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) July 26, 2016

I hope Dr. Stein can explain the connection between a victory for a neo-fascist Trump regime and the establishment of people power behind the White Green Party. I can't see it.

One friend on Twitter argued that they couldn't trust Hillary to follow through on what has been called "the most progressive platform in party history."

They're right. As the polls clearly show, HRC is not trustworthy. But politics is not a spectator sport. No matter who wins the election, the struggle continues after November. You've gone in and shaped a platform worth defending, despite its lackings (no courage within the party to even mention the plight of the Palestinians).

So tell me why not carry the struggle through?

Sad to watch Bernie Sanders abandon his revolution. We welcome all voters who want to fix our rigged system and bring back our jobs.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 26, 2016

Big News... Elected Representative School Board Bill Passes the House 110-4

It still has to pass in the senate and then get the governor's signature, but this is a major victory. It's also another major blow struck against MRE whose autocratic rule over the schools has been an educational and financial disaster.

After the vote, applause broke out in the chambers.

Should the legislation make it through the Senate, Chicago’s public schools would be overseen by 21 democratically elected members of the public rather than the seven the mayor has chosen.

Chicago is the only district in IL and one of the few in the nation, to have an appointed school board. Voters have passed several resolutions in support of ESRB sending clear messages to Springfield as to the will of the people.

Problem is, even if passed, the bill doesn't go into effect until March, 2018, leaving Rahm's autocracy in place for nearly all the rest of his term in office. Let's hope we still have a CPS by then.

Amazing. Never thought I'd see the day. Elected school board passes #ilhouse 110-4 #ersb #twill

— Will Guzzardi (@WillGuzzardi) March 3, 2016

Rep. @robertmartwick thanks Speaker Madigan for his support and community groups who believed they couldn't give up the fight for #ERSB

— Lauren FitzPatrick (@bylaurenfitz) March 3, 2016

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, will speak at today's pre-strike rally in Grant Park amid stalled contract talks with the school district. (Terrence Antonio James / Chicago Tribune)

CEO Forrest Claypool to the City Club of Chicago 

"We are at a breaking point." -- Tribune

MTA Pres. Barbara Madeloni 

“It [Common Core testing] is destructive to our students and our teachers and the very possibility of joyful and meaningful public education...We’ve really flipped the narrative in a year.” -- NY Times

Thomas Gattuso, principal of Sullivan House

We are looking for justice. If Laquan had shot the policeman 16 times, he wouldn’t have been at a desk job 13 months later.” -- Sun-Times

Rev. Jesse Jackson

" My greatest fear is not the protest, but if there is no protest.” -- NY Times

Donald Trump

"Maybe the guy should have been roughed up a little." -- Raw Story

Letter to Mark Zuckerberg from former classmate, teacher Emily Talmage

Let me assure you that “personalized learning,” as it is being pushed by the Gates Foundation, the American Legislative Exchange Council, the Digital Learning Now Council, as well as countless educational technology companies, start-ups, and venture capitalists who have invested millions into personalized learning experiments (they call them “innovations”), is a far, far cry from the type of education we got at Exeter. -- Washington Post

In The Mailbox: From State Rep. Will Guzzardi

Mike --

As you may know, in August I joined over 40 of my fellow legislators to co-sponsor HB 4268, which will create an elected school board for Chicago Public Schools. This has been an issue of the upmost importance to me for many years, and I’m happy to see the legislature finally respond to the thousands of dedicated parents and organizers in this fight. In an effort to help educate my constituents more about why this reform is so necessary — and to hear directly from you on the issue — I'm holding a forum on Thursday, November 19th at Armitage Baptist Church, 2451 N Kedzie Blvd, at 6:30pm.

As I've stated before, CPS is the only school district in the entire state (and one of only a few in the country) that doesn't have an elected school board. That means that we're the only school district where the mayor gets to single-handedly decide what’s best for our students, teachers and parents. In every other district in Illinois, the people making decisions about our school are directly accountable to the communities those schools serve. Given the track record of CPS leadership, there's no reason why Chicago should be any different. We've had over 20 years of mayoral control, and it hasn’t produced any better outcomes. In fact, all we've seen is scandal after scandal, insider deals, massive over-testing of our students, and ever more money being dumped into charters with no positive results.
Let's discuss a better way forward!
What: Elected Representative School Board Forum
When: November 19th at 6:30pm
Where: Armitage Baptist Church, 2451 N Kedzie Blvd, 60647

State Rep. Will Guzzardi
http://www.willguzzardi.com/

North Side/South Side. The pot is boiling over. Hunger strikers ask Obama to intervene.

Labor Day at Dyett...We gathered in support of the hunger strikers, now in the 23rd day of their strike. We heard Jitu Brown's progress report along with a reading of the demands the strikers are making which include greater community decision-making in all things Dyett. They say they're hoping for a quick resolution with Rev. Jesse Jackson handling the negotiations with CPS.

That won't be easy. Negotiations in this city are basically warfare without guns. Remember, CEO Forrest Claypool is already on record refusing to negotiate with the hunger strikers. That's what led to a continuation of the strike in the first place.

He's also blown up the Board's negotiations with the CTU as his first act in office. This, just as Karen Lewis was reporting that they were thisclose to a contract agreement.

This is obviously a man with white entitlement issues. Doesn't work well with people of color.

But shit happens. Remember in 2005, even though he was campaign genius David Axelrod's partner with goo-gobs of money, running as the great white hope with support of both daily newspapers, Claypool still lost his 2005 race for Cook County Board President to John Stroger. This even after Stroger suffered a stroke the week before the election.

Then in 2010, banking heavily on white suburban support, Claypool lost the race for county assessor, this time to wobbly machine boss Joe Berrios. I guess city voters didn't think Claypool was good at assessing. It seems white-skin privilege only gets you so far these days.

But Daley and Rahm still enjoyed Claypool's political loyalties and his willingness to reward their friends and take an axe to city services, so they started appointing Claypool to various manager jobs at the Park District, the CTA, and now at CPS, instead of making him run for office.

Beginning today, the hunger strikers will gather in Washington Park from 1-6 p.m. and then organize daily ("non-aggressive") marches to President Obama's home in nearby Kenwood. They are calling on Obama to intervene on behalf of the strikers. Jitu Brown and April Stogner just returned from D.C. where they met with Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who, Brown said, expressed his "sympathy" but offered little else. 

State Rep. Will Guzzardi, Sen. Iris Martinez & Ald. Milly Santiago support protest at Kelvyn Park H.S. today. 

This morning we were up on the north side at Kelvyn Park High School where parents, teachers, students and community supporters stood outside the school for an opening-day protest and press conference. As a result of budget cuts, the school is opening without badly needed counselors, coaches or programs.

‪"I've been waiting for 4 years to be a senior. I worked hard. Now, I learn that I won't have a college counselor. No one to help me figure out how to get to college. It's like they my wings are getting clipped before I could fly,” says Kelvyn Park High School senior Sherilyn Royce.

 “We are Dyett,” says Kelvyn Park teacher Jerry Skinner. “We’re starting the school year with a $2.2 million budget cut, on top of cut after cut, year after year. This is how neighborhood high schools get destroyed by design.”

Lots of media here. None yesterday at Dyett. Just saying.

More endorsements expected today for Chuy Garcia

Will Guzzardi

Our machine-busting State Rep. Will Guzzardi will announce his support for Chuy Garcia today at a rally sponsored by Reclaim Chicago.

The event will take place near McCormick Place, site of a planned new hotel that progressives have been opposing. The project is financed in part by tens of millions of dollars in special tax district funds (TIF) they should be going to schools and other neighborhood projects.

I received this  from Will this morning:

Dear friends and neighbors,

This morning, I’ll be joining my allies at Reclaim Chicago to announce my endorsement of County Commissioner Jesus “Chuy” Garcia for mayor of Chicago.

No matter what the mayor’s spin artists tell us, here’s what we know: these last four years, things have gotten harder for working families in Chicago. We’re getting fewer services, and we’re paying more in taxes and tickets and fines and fees. Many of our communities are facing profound crises of public safety. Affordable housing is a fading dream for too many families, even as the CHA sits on enormous unspent cash reserves. And our neighborhood schools have either been closed or had their budgets cut to the bone, while public dollars have been diverted by the tens of millions to privately operated charter schools.

Chuy Garcia offers our city a new direction. He has served Chicago families with passion and dedication for the last 30 years. Most recently, in his tenure at the Cook County Board, he has worked in lock step with President Toni Preckwinkle to solve the county’s profound budget problems while continuing to provide critical services to those families in need.

Chuy’s positions as a candidate and his record as a public servant show that he shares our values. When faced with the thorny problems that the next four years will bring, Chuy will know how to solve them with integrity and compassion.

There’s a difference between being tough and being heartless. It’s not a show of courage to balance budgets on the backs of the poor and voiceless. What takes true courage is standing up to the wealthy and powerful and insisting that they too must contribute their fair share. That’s the kind of toughness Chuy will bring, and it will do our city a world of good.

If you're as excited about Chuy as I am, please join me and our partners at Reclaim Chicago in volunteering for his campaign. Click here to sign up for a shift!

Some of you may disagree with this assessment. That’s okay! I encourage you to vote for whomever you see as the best candidate. But please, above all, make sure you vote on April 7th.

Thank you, and all my best,

-Will

http://www.willguzzardi.com/

What's not to love about Chicago politics?

When I think of Chicago politics, one word comes to mind, family. I think of a guy like Joe Berrios, the chairman of the Cook County Democratic Party, reaching out to help 15 of his relatives including sister Carmen , not only land a job with the county but collect on her disability claim after she “tripped on a floor outlet and landed on the floor,” and injured her foot, umm I mean shoulder.

IF I HAD KNOWN WGN's Patti Vasquez was looking for someone (anyone) to run for mayor next year, I would have thrown my hat into the ring while I was on her show last week (32:30). Instead, Patti goes down to Boul Mich to find a candidate and learns that Rahm is so beatable, Mickey Mouse or even Mike Oquendo (says he will re-open 50 schools and fix 50 pot holes) can take him head to head.



Most polls now show that Karen Lewis can win if she runs and if progressives and unions can get their act together and stop gnawing at each other and jockeying for position, at least for a few months and come together in the new coalition. Even yesterday's more favorable (for Rahm) poll has him failing to avoid a runoff. And this is before Karen's campaign has even begun. By my reckoning, if Progressive Caucus leader, Ald. Bob Fioretti jumps into the race along with Karen, that would all but ensure a runoff in which Rahm would likely lose. Even though Rahm's war chest is overstuffed with millions of corporate (don't-tax-me) dollars and dozens of press secretaries, he's still the asshole nobody likes -- except maybe the Griffin's. And they're heading for their own hedge-fund divorce.

Remember how we trampled the Berrios/Madigan machine and elected Will Guzzardi as our state rep? There's no reason why we can't do it again in February.

At the Hideout: Mitchell explains how pension theft is constitutional

It was monthly political junkie night again at the Hideout last night. This time around it was Ben and Mick engaging soon-to-be State Rep. Will Guzzardi, Rep. Christian Mitchell, and AFSCME lobbyist Adrian Alexander. The trio found plenty of common ground in the sense that they were all under 30 and in many ways, represent the future of progressive Democratic politics in the state. Of course, that future isn't written yet.

Springfield neophyte Guzzardi made clear his opposition to so-called "pension reform" and correctly framed the current crisis as a revenue problem. His call for a progressive tax system was met with loud applause.

Mitchell stood out from the others in the sense that he's the incumbent who narrowly defeated my favorite, Jay Travis in a close hard-fought election. Mitchell ran with backing from his patron, Cook County Board Pres. Toni Preckwinkle and with a war chest stuffed to overflowing with one-percenter money from the likes of California billionaire Eli Broad and teacher-union busters Stand For Children. Unfortunately, he was never asked about his views on corporate school reform or the expansion of privately-run charters.

Mitchell did his best to explain to the liberal Hideout crowd, why he voted for SB1, the unconstitutional pension-robbing bill, a vote he described as, "the most difficult he ever had to make." For a moment, I almost felt sorry for him (not really). He must have been in so much pain, taking all that hard-earned and hard-saved promised pension money out of the pockets and purses of the elderly even though the State Constitution clearly states that public sector pension benefits cannot be "diminished or impaired." His grandfather is even a union man.

I suppose he's thinking -- Oh, sorry gramps. This will hurt me more than it will hurt you.

Mitchell claimed he was actually doing retirees a favor by cutting our pensions before that mean old Republican Bruce Rauner comes in a does away with them all together. He even claimed that SB1 was "constitutional" (does anyone else really believe that?) since the state is in such dire straights and unwilling to tax the wealthy and corporations. The only choice left is to raid the pension fund. On this, he was only echoing his mentors like Preckwinkle and Atty. Gen. Lisa Madigan who argue that the law “is a permissible exercise of the State of Illinois’ reserved sovereign powers (sometimes referred to as the State’s police powers).”

Anyway, except for a few of us grumpy retirees who still depend on our pensions, a good time seemed to be had by all -- at least up on the stage. The crowd all rallied around defeating Rauner, although the sharp young lobbyist Alexander expressed some concern about being able to rally the Quinn troops "given what he's done" and "who he's running with" (Paul Vallas).

Lots of unity was also found on the marijuana legalization issue and Ben told a great funny story about his adventures in pot-legalized Denver, which I'm sure we'll all be reading about in his next Reader column.

I'll really be interested to see how all this plays out if and when Preckwinkle and/or Fioretti decides to run against Rahm Emanuel in 2015. Someone should have asked the trio how they would vote.

Your machine politics took a beating, Big Daddy. Get over it.

“Guzzardi was able to walk the district for four years, didn’t have to work, didn’t have to do anything.” -- Joe "Big Daddy" Berrios. 

My only response to Chicago machine boss Joe Berrios, after reading this inane piece in the Sun-Times, is -- You lost, Big Daddy. Get over it. That's right, Will Guzzardi (a "self-styled reformer" according to the S-T) demolished your kid and kicked the crap out of your ward machine and Michael Madigan and his boys who were running her campaign.  Will routed her in every single precinct but one and even ran really strong among Latino voters on your own turf. 

And no, despite what you keep repeating, it wasn't a race between "hipsters and Hispanics." If it was, than Toni would have surely won. Will got a big chunk of the Latino vote and believe it or not, there's no such thing as a hipster vote and Mike Madigan is no Hispanic. Why couldn't you and MM even turn out your own base behind your daughter? Because you ran a shameful campaign, that's why, spreading rumors about your opponent that nobody -- black, white or Latino -- bought into. Meanwhile, Will ran a stronger, smarter race and had a grass-roots, rank-and-file army out in the streets, going door to door and talking about issues that mean more to voters than hipsters vs. Hispanics. 

And no, Will didn't spend the last 4 years "walking around the district." I'm pretty sure he was working most of that time at a job, to keep food on the table and a roof over his head. 

Will Guzzardi at Johnny's Diner in Logan Square

And no, Will isn't a tool of the unions. But he is pro-union, unlike daughter Toni. That's why they supported him. He stood up against the pension cuts, something you and Toni haven't done, and that why the public service workers -- you know, cops, fire fighters, and teachers, supported him and don't support you.

And as for being outspent -- I can't imagine that you, the head of the Cook Country Democratic Party, with backing from not only Madigan, but the Mayor as well, would even admit that you couldn't raise more dough than independent Guzzardi or put a bigger field operation into play. 

You lost Joe, breathe deep and swallow hard. Put it behind you.

Guzzardi -- “The whole city is watching what we did here. This election didn’t happen in a vacuum.”

In These Times photo

A POWERFUL MOVEMENT IN CHICAGO... Dan Mihalopoulos gets it (sorta) in this morning's Sun-Times ("Victories few for Preckwinkle on Election Night") about Toni backing machine candidates on Tuesday. A while back I was chanting "Run, Toni, Run." I didn't mean run into the arms of Rahm/Madigan.

Mihalopoulos writes:

Still, you can’t help but contrast the gloom felt Tuesday night by many of Preckwinkle’s friends with the soaring rhetoric about Chicago’s “progressive movement” at the Guzzardi victory party in Logan Square. “The whole city is watching what we did here,” Guzzardi told supporters. “This election didn’t happen in a vacuum.”

According to the triumphant political neophyte, he’s part of “a powerful movement in Chicago.” Guzzardi has lived in Chicago just five years but referenced an event that occurred here long before he was born: The 1983 election of Mayor Harold Washington. Guzzardi claimed his win was another milestone for a movement that once elected Washington.

In his campaign and in the speech, the 26-year-old Guzzardi laid out the key issues he believes are motivating the movement these days: 

Improving traditional public schools, as opposed to opening new charter schools. Preserving pensions for public employees. Changing a tax structure in which “the very wealthy and the biggest corporations ought to be held accountable to pay their fair share, just like the rest of us.”

BATTLE'S NOT OVER...While we on the north side are still celebrating (and I am) Will's monumental victory, let's not forget that our brothers and sisters on the south side are still fighting. Jay Travis is within a few hundred votes of Christian Mitchell and is refusing to concede until "every vote is properly counted." Of course, as we know from our own experience on Tuesday, they haven't been. And shame on Preckwinkle for calling Travis's claims of poll irregularities "delusional."

DNAinfo

From the very beginning,  Will's campaign and that of Jay Travis should have been essentially linked, targeting the same corrupt political machine. In the course of fighting and often winning these school and election battles, our eyes remain on the prize. We are building an independent, labor-led, community-based movement that can hopefully challenge Rahm Emanuel next year and help redefine politics in this city.

The Travis campaign is facing much tougher odds right now, including obscene amounts of money flowing into Mitchell's coffers from groups like Stand For Children, DFER, and even from California billionaire school privateer Eli Broad. For Travis to be this close to victory is testimony to the power of her message, her organization and her base of support in the community.

Thanks to my FB friend Matt Ginsberg-Jaeckle for posting the following:

Little piece of research I just did, fascinating to see that Mitchell's entire base of support comes from the white areas of his district, pretty telling about our political system that the corporate-backed candidate can win a seat in state assembly by depending pretty much exclusively on the whitest areas of his district: Analyze where Mitchell's "victory" came from. He was CRUSHED in predominately black areas, in fact in most areas. His entire victory came from the 42nd ward which is 70% white, the 2nd ward which is 78% white, and the 43rd ward, which is over 80% white. Meanwhile, he lost in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 7th, 10th and 20th. 

Last year we waged an important battle against the school closings and won important victories here on the north side. But in the city's predominantly black communities, 50 schools were closed, leaving thousands of families' lives in turmoil and their neighborhoods further blighted.

Let's not let the politics of divide-and-rule undo what we've been able to accomplish. To my way of thinking, the battle in the 26th is over when Jay Travis says it's over.

Guzzardi wins in a rout

-- M. Klonsky photo

State House - District 39 - Dem Primary

March 18, 2014 - 11:04PM CT

Illinois - 91 of 91 Precincts Reporting - 100%

Name Votes Vote %

Guzzardi, Will 5,245 61%

Berrios, Toni (i) 3,402 39%

All you had to do was walk into the Logan Square Auditorium on Kedzie last night and take a look around to see why Will Guzzardi won big. The room was packed, not only with a diverse, raucous crowd of celebratory election night supporters, but also with a cadre of skilled campaigners, strategists, media, supporting politicians and field organizers young and old, who knew how to win an election and did.

-- M.Klonsky photo

In the end, despite the usual last-minute polling place shenanigans,  it wasn't even close. Toni Berrios conceded early, a little after 9 p.m. In an election that was watched closely statewide and even nationally, Guzzardi won in a 22-point rout over the machine's ncumbent, Berrios, the daughter of Cook County Democratic Party Chairman Joe"Big Daddy" Berrios. Her confused and floundering campaign was taken over mid-stream by machine Boss Michael Madigan's professional election thugs who made Toni take a "vow of silence" and then threw every bit of smut and garbage they could muster at Will, but couldn't make it stick.

DNAInfo reported:

 But some voters said Berrios' advertising blitz worked against her, especially when it came to attack ads. "To see what Toni Berrios [is saying], it really makes me sick to my stomach, so that makes me come out and vote just because of how yucky politics is," said Logan Square resident Amanda Fitzgerald.

-- M.Klonsky photo

Guzzardi gave a rousing victory speech calling on supporters to keep the movement alive or "my victory will have been in vain."

"We said with one voice that every child deserves access to a great public education," Guzzardi told the crowd. "We said with one voice that the very wealthy and the biggest corporations ought to be held accountable to paying their fair share just like the rest of us. And we said with one voice that working people who have earned their retirement deserve to get it, right?"  

WGN is calling it a "victory for the unions," especially for the CTU which backed Guzzardi with money and field organizers. Chicago Party regulars, including Rahm Emanuel, are now worried that Guzzardi's successful campaign could mark the beginnings of an independent political movement capable of a new round of election victories. They are right to worry, especially with the mayor's race coming up next year. One of those capable of taking on Rahm is Ald. Bob Fioretti who backed Guzzardi and who, along with several other progressive pols, including Senator Willie Delgado, Aldermen Arena, Waguespack and Moreno, were celebrating with the crowd in the auditorium.

CONGRATULATIONS... to Jay Travis who ran a strong campaign in the 26th against great odds in her attempt to unseat incumbent Christian Mitchell. All the experts predicted this race wouldn't even be close, with Mitchell getting tons of money from school privatizing groups like Stand For Children and DFER as well as a last-minute gift from California billionaire power philanthropist Eli Broad.

But by midnight last night, with the press reporting a win for Mitchell, the race is so close that Jay isn't giving in. She says:

I am not conceding. Throughout Election Day, we constantly received reports of voter suppression and intimidation, judges tampering with ballots, wrong ballots, ballots missing my name, and illegal electioneering. I personally was turned away from the polls at 6 a.m. due to alleged problems with the voting machine, along with a group of elderly senior citizens who had been waiting in line to vote (I returned over an hour later and was able to cast my ballot at that time).

We have received these kinds of reports from precincts across at least five different wards in the 26th District. This scale is significant in a race separated by just several hundred votes. We will be at the Board of Elections with our attorney tomorrow. In the meantime, I want to thank those of you who did incredible work in the streets today and packed our Election Night party tonight. You inspire me to continue fighting for a more just and democratic world.

Win or lose, Jay Travis should be proud of the campaign she waged. This is only the beginning for her. Her race, taken together with Guzzardi's victory in the 39th, shows the way forward.

'Let's finish the job'

From Will Guzzzardi

Mike --Two years ago today, we came within 125 votes of doing what no one thought was possible. When I decided to challenge one of the most powerful political families in Illinois, I knew it wouldn't be easy. But what I didn't know was just how many people across the district -- parents, teachers, progressive leaders, young and old -- would come together to support this campaign.

Looking back on it, the reason that's happened is simple: this community is ready for change. Our neighbors deserve better than leaders who put political allies ahead of the people who elected them. And our families deserve better than the distasteful smear tactics that have been filling all our mailboxes for more than a month now. Today, we have an opportunity to prove that a better kind of politics is possible. Let's go finish the job.

Thank you so much.-Will

New Orleans teacher/blogger Mercedes Schneider opens up a can of whoopass on Bill Gates. Can she do that? Doesn't she know who he is -- the world's richest?

It seems that Gates has once again bought himself an audience; he offered his CCSS-indulging speech to the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) at its Teaching and Learning conference. Why is Gates, a non-teacher, offering his non-expertise to an audience of nationally-certified teachers? Consolation prize for millions donated.

Hell yes, she can. If you don't know Mercedes, you should. Check her out at deutsch29.

More proof that privately-run charters are not really public schools.
Last Thursday, Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Thomas Breslin ruled, in a suit filed by number-one charter hustler Eva Moskowitz, that state Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli cannot audit New York charter schools because the schools are not technically “units of the state.”

Test boycott support grows. Berrios takes a vow of silence.

There's 3 good letters and one crappy one in this morning's Trib. Julie Woestehoff writes re. the ISAT test boycott calling on Rahm, BBB, the Board and ISBE to "respect parents' rights to direct our children's education, to treat students who opt out respectfully and ethically, and, most important, to change the fundamental values in this district and this state that continue to prioritize test scores above high-quality education for all our children."  

We believe that schools are the most important democratic institutions in America, and that our children are our democracy's future.

Boycott Support...The CTU has received statements of support from the Faculty Association of the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff and nationally recognized educators for families and teachers who have opted out of the ISAT. Nearly 2,000 students at 90 schools—including charter schools—were opted out of this year’s ISAT, joining teacher-led decisions to teach instead of test at Saucedo Scholastic Academy and Drummond Montessori School.

In a public petition released Monday, more than 50 educators and researchers, including well-respected figures in the field of education, pledged support for the ISAT boycott and called on Chicago’s mayor and schools chief to rescind threats of punishment for those who participated in the action. Among the signers of the statement are CTU President Karen Lewis, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and former U.S. Assistant Secretary of Education Diane Ravitch.

DISGUSTING...Count on the Sun-Times to pose the Will Guzzardi/Toni Berrios race as one between "hipsters" and "Hispanics."

Will takes 'em on:

“This is an election to decide what kind of Democrats we want to have in Illinois. When we have a speaker who wants to cut corporate taxes in half, it makes you wonder what kinds of Democrats we’re talking about.”

 He also blasts Michael Madigan, the state House speaker and Democratic Party leader from the Southwest Side, for cuts to public-worker pensions. And he criticizes Toni Berrios for helping create a state charter-school agency. Two years ago, Guzzardi almost defeated Toni Berrios, without the endorsement of a single elected official in the district. That near-miss and his left-leaning positions have won Guzzardi the backing of the Chicago Teachers Union, state Sen. Willie Delgado and City Council members Joe Moreno (1st), Scott Waguespack (32nd) and John Arena (45th).

Vow of silence...Berrios claims somebody "harassed" her while she was out canvassing. So she's refusing to talk to the press the rest of the campaign. But I hear that Boss Madigan and Big Daddy Berrios have muzzled her and have taken the campaign over from Toni's own team. They don't like losing.

The view from L.A.

The way schooling is supposed to be-- I'm out on the Left Coast. taking a few days off from Chicago tundra, watching a school field trip to Leo Carrillo State Park.

I'm in L.A. but still envious (no, really) of those who got to join the UIC picket lines or march yesterday  in Springfield in defense of public employee pensions. This show of strength, especially in anticipation of upcoming state and local elections, is bound to have some effect.

Now the question is, can this positive motion produce the kind of unity and organization needed to put a hurt on Rahm, Rauner, Madigan and their gang? I don't think the progressive movement really has a horse in the governor's race, but we should be able to use the growing rifts in the enemy's camp to our advantage.

Locally, the Will Guzzardi (39th) and Jay Travis (26th) state rep races are strategically key. The machine, including Boss Madigan's thugs, have jumped into the Guzzardi/Berrios race with both boots as Guzzardi's poll numbers continue to grow. Madigan's people are apparently taking  messaging and propaganda duties away from Toni Berrios' own incompetents. As a result the panicky Berrios campaign is headed straight for the gutter.

This from Gapers Block:

Maybe the memory of a close margin explains the recent outflux of advertisements from the 2014 Berrios campaign that range from the sensational to the horrific. "Will Guzzardi doesn't want you to know where sexual predators are hiding" declares one 8-by-10 inch card in red letters above a man's face emerging from the dark. "Sexual predators could be living near the park where our children play," Berrios's message continues on the back, "...and Will Guzzardi doesn't think we should know."

My feeling is that Berrios' gutter politics will backfire and Will will be able to pull it out.

DEBTORS PRISON?…The Illinois unemployment rate is now among the nation's highest and even worse than midwest neighbors Ohio and Michigan. Wow! And as public employees have their standard of living reduced, pensions threatened,  and face mounting debt and trouble paying their bills, feudal lord Rahm puts the squeeze on them to pay up quickly or risk suspensions or firings. He's even using increased teacher debt as a reason to undermine the CTU contract. What's next, debtors' prison?

FACULTY POWER...The two-day UIC faculty strike appears to have had a major impact. Hundreds of classes were cancelled as tenured and non-tenured teachers and profs flexed their collective muscle. Hopefully this show of strength will force the administration to negotiate a fair contract with decent pay for university workers and empowerment of faculty over curricular and other decisions that affect teacher/learning and student well-being.

According to the Ward Room:

Instead of simply being about who gets paid what and when, the school’s first-ever strike is as much about what kind of an institution UIC is and will be, and whether or not educators are in the business of adding value to students or adding value to a university’s bottom line. 

Writing in Jacobin Magazine, however, two UIC English professors, Lennard Davis and Walter Benn Michaels, make the case that UIC faculty are also committed to educating working-class students and say the strike is also about whether or not they’re able to fulfill that mission

WEEKEND QUOTABLES

CAROL MARIN

I asked each to name their political heroes.Will Guzzardi said, among others, the late Minnesota Sen. Paul Wellstone and Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren. Toni Berrios answered, “My dad.” -- Sun-Times

DANNY SCHECHTER

The super spyboys have had a good run, but now the real world is bursting their bubble with pushback and ridicule. Something’s gotta give and it will. -- The News Dissector

Anna Louise Strong

JOHN NICHOLS

The latter state [Washington] was a hotbed of radicalism, especially in Seattle, where in 1916 activist Anna Louise Strong was elected to the school board. A militant supporter of left-wing causes and campaigns, she aligned with labor unions during the city’s general strike and famously declared:  

“They say the Pharaohs built the pyramids. Do you think one Pharaoh dropped one bead of sweat? We built the pyramids for the Pharaohs and we’re building for them yet.” -- The Nation

CHRYSTIA FREELAND

Bill Gates is the leading philanthrocapitalist, and he has many emulators — nowadays, having your own policy-oriented think tank is a far more effective status symbol among the super-rich than the mere conspicuous consumption of yachts or private jets. -- NYT, "Plutocrats vs. Populists"