Austin Berg
@Austin__Berg
You can’t make this up.
A public school in Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson’s neighborhood will now employ 32 staff members to serve 35 students in a school building originally built for 888 students (96% empty).
This is the result of Johnson’s former employer and top financial backer, the Chicago Teachers Union. The CTU spent millions of dollars on Johnson’s campaign so that the mayor’s school system would prioritize inputs (tax $ spent, union jobs and CTU dues $ collected) over outcomes (student achievement and financial stability).
A system that only cares about inputs means more money for CTU’s political machine. And that machine ultimately hurts poor and marginalized families in Chicago.
Here’s one example.
Last year thousands of low-income Chicago Public Schools students were on a waitlist. It was a waitlist for scholarships, funded by private donations, that allowed parents to choose the best school for their child, rather than their zoned public school.
But the Chicago Teachers Union killed that program in Springfield, where they also spend millions on political campaigns. The CTU said that because the program included a small state tax credit for donating to scholarships, it was stealing money from public schools.
Now the money goes to CTU instead.
8:12 PM · May 28, 2024