The noise of change

Mayor Rahm Emanuel said Thursday he’s sensitive to the “noise associated with change.” -- Sun-Times

Somehow the words, "sensitive" and "Rahm" just don't sound right in the same sentence. Chicago's mayor claims he's in a big hurry to make "radical" change and that his so-called reforms can't wait.

“I cannot wait another year and allow a child to be caught in a school system that, for five years running, has been on the watch list or the troubled list with no prospect of getting off of it. … Nothing to me is worse in the sense of discrimination than leaving kids in a system that, year-in-and-year-out, has been scored as failing.”

But wait a minute, Rahm. The last 5 years, like the 15 before them, had the schools strictly under the control of the mayor. You are not doing anything that hasn't been done before under Mayor Daley, ie. school closings in black neighborhoods, privately-run charters, mass teacher firings, and turnarounds (Remember Renaissance 2010, anyone?). Only you are doing more of it and doing it longer and longer.The results are the same or worse.

Listen to the noise. It's growing louder.