But right now, Mayor Brandon Johnson is at Walter H. Dyett High School for the Arts, at 555 E. 51st St., about to speak to a few dozen people. He stands poised by the steps to a small platform.
"They're coming for him!" Jitu Brown, national director of Journey for Justice, a coalition of grassroots educational organizations, tells the gathering. Brown, who led a 34-day hunger strike in 2015 to reopen Dyett, prowls the stage, invoking faceless forces set against the mayor.
"Because they want him to privatize. They want him to privatize," Brown says. "They don't want him to love Black and Brown children. They were silent when they were closing over 160 schools in this city. ... They don't get to decide no more. Kwame Nkrumah said this: 'It is better to govern or misgovern yourself than to be governed by anybody else.'"
With that two-edged maxim tossed out, the man trying to govern the sprawling city of Chicago as it welcomes one president, two candidates, thousands of delegates and protesters, not to forget all the other daily doings of a major city, takes the podium.
"I'm grateful that we have come together to fortify our position as we push for sustainable community schools to be the model throughout our entire school district," says Johnson, who joined the 2015 Dyett hunger strike on its 24th day. "This model is not simply about teachers and teachers' assistants; it's also about the families who make up the community."
Party politics might be about to push Johnson onto the world stage, but first Johnson takes the time to go to Bronzeville and give some love to a cause dear to his heart.
"Sustainable community schools" is a major Chicago Teachers Union effort to remake the public schools so rather than compete for scarce magnet slots, students attend schools in their own neighborhoods with curriculum that will, in the CTU's words, "humanize education in a way that is antiracist and advances equity and justice."
It's a message Johnson is eager to share with the world. Earlier, at the Chicago Hilton, 720 S. Michigan Ave., Johnson told a Michigan delegation breakfast that politicians need to put public money where their mouths are.
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Well, Johnson is really misgoverning Chicago, with his fealty to that rotten teachers union!
ReplyDeleteSorry Clark, your poor judgement is showing
DeleteI've friends in the CTU. one taught my son at Lane Tech. She worked hard all the way to retirement. 66 years old and deserves every penny she made and the pension she will receive. Teaches used to get crapped on for doing a tough job. Thanks to the union its a good job now and Chicagos teachers are much improved over when I attended CPS. Their families benefit, the students benefit and the city benefits.
DeleteVoted for Lori 2x, right?
DeleteShe's a paid lawyer, looking at Dolton, teaching at Harvard.
Brandon's under 40 percent approval. CTA must have a better union steward to run next.
Was a public school student for 12 years, I had wonderful teachers, meh teachers but I can’t say I had any rotten teachers. All of my teachers deserved the pensions that they were promised- just as I am deserving of the pension I was promised during my non-teaching career. The City of Chicago choose to use the pension funds as its piggy bank and now the employees are ‘rotten’ for demanding what they earned?
DeleteNo the union is rotten because it wants to run the entire city! It's also opposed to closing schools with less than 200 students, which causes us taxpayers hundreds of millions in wasted money!
DeleteVP Harris has proved to be amazing. She wasn't utilized properly by this administration.
ReplyDeleteI am constantly reminded how poorly (and unequal) our educational systems function in this country. While it is clearly a feature (not a bug) of the republican system of government, it has taken a "long" time to show just how bad it has become. While Daley get's gruff for kowtowing to the Teacher's Union perhaps he was right. The investments we make in our children are more important that almost everything else.
ReplyDeleteIt is nice to see how full throated the attacks from the right on Tim Walz has been. How dare you feed school children. How dare you make feminine hygiene products available to women and girls, let alone free! How dare you demand more pay and more schools and more... help!
I understand peoples criticisms of Brandon Johnson, but I do think he has two very good things going for him. First, he happens to be a Democrat, meaning he believes the government exists to help and protect its people. And second, he clearly cares about teachers and education. How he (and we) manage to balance that care with the other millions of issues facing our city is still ironing itself out.
I'll still fight for this city, regardless of who is leading it. And i will still hold us all to a higher standard, because Chicago is one of the greatest cities in the world.
A rather positive portrayal of the Mayor, especially given previous criticism. I admire Mayor Johnson's dedication, but doubt that he will be able to accomplish his aims without yielding to those who want special schools for elite students, of whatever ethnicity.
ReplyDeletejohn
I agree, John, with regard to the "rather positive portrayal." I don't know what needs to be done about the schools and I certainly haven't been too impressed with what I've seen from Johnson, whom I voted for. But my takeaway from this column, from the perspective of a Chicago resident first, but also a regular EGD reader, is that it was gracious of our genial host to go out of his way to attend these events and offer a balanced look at the mayor while the convention is going on in his city.
DeleteAs for the "astoundingly short time" required for Harris' recent ascendance, I like to keep in mind that Biden had run 2 ineffectual campaigns for president in 1988 and 2008 and was not doing all that well in 2020 until the South Carolina primary. Then, several other contenders bowed out and folks who had not been particularly supportive rallied behind him in order to defeat the Biggest Loser.
I surely hope that all this enthusiasm for Kamala can be translated into her receiving the votes of those who had decided Biden is too old. Especially from younger voters and the many others who are often seduced by the siren song of third-party candidates.
Thoughtful observations, as always, and I'm happy to explain a bit of the dynamic that led to this admittedly unusual column: a) I've been trying to meet the mayor for the past 15 months because I figure, I'm a metro columnist, I'm supposed to b) a couple of weeks ago I met with Lynn Sweet, to strategize the convention, and she observed that Fran is off this week and so nobody is keeping eyes on the mayor so maybe I could; c) With thousands of reporters at the convention site, this gave me a chance to be the one reporter in the room, which to me is typically a sign that I'm in the right place; d) the original column was more tart, but it was also 1100 words long and in trying to get it into page 2 shape, I stripped away most of the trademark snideness because e) I'd like to keep talking with Johnson in the future and do future one-on-one stories and that doesn't work if you stick a fork in your host's eye at your first lunch. Make sense?
DeleteOf course, it makes sense. A well-executed strategy resulting in a fine column. Plus, I love behind-the-scenes info like that whenever you share it. Thanks for the reply!
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