Rahm's Ironic Speech at the DNC

On September 1^st, 2012, roughly 18,000 parents, students, and teachers took to the streets in another massive demonstration of the public’s growing weariness of corporate-style school “reform” that deprofessionalizes teaching, disrupts low-income, minority communities, disenfranchises parents from decisions that affect their children, and threatens public education as a whole. The very next night Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel was ironically extolling the virtues of the Democratic Party as he delivered his speech to the Democratic National Convention.

In his speech he said:

 “That was the change we believed in. That was the change we fought for. That was the change President Obama delivered. And in those first few months, the president worked to put accountability into our children's schools with Race to the Top, so that every child has an education that measures up to their full potential. He was willing to demand change and embrace reform. The president never changed his views to suit the moment or the audience—and that is also a measure of leadership. Every challenge was different, every choice was difficult, but every time, the leadership was steady.”

Let’s re-write the education part of the Mayor’s speech to reflect reality. Replace the word “accountability” with “deregulated private sector” and replace “measures up to their full potential” with “measures their test-taking ability with faulty metrics” and you have a much more realistic description of RttT. Of course, anytime you see or hear the word “reform” you have to place “corporate-driven” in front of it for it to be even remotely accurate. It is true that the President has never changed his views. Sadly, this is in the face of research and protests. Nobody is more qualified to speak on such matters than Rahm Emanuel.

How can someone who refuses to be held accountable by anything other than his hand selected school board even begin to talk accountability?  How can someone who has demonstrated so much contempt for democracy be speaking at the Democratic National Convention? How can someone whose policies have disenfranchised parents while deprofessionalizing teaching be talking about education? It’s precisely because of RttT, which effectively mandates this sort of behavior by requiring privatization, high-stakes testing, and other policies that are repulsive to educators, parents, and children alike. Of course, Rahm has demonstrated his anti-democratic behavior in other areas, but the irony of him speaking about education while 18,000 citizens take to the streets in his home town to oppose his tyrannical attack on public education is the most staggering.   

Rahm’s very next paragraph was:  

“Now, one thing I know with absolute certainty, having served two great presidents, is that in the next four years, an unforeseen crisis, challenge or conflict is gonna seize the country. Whose leadership, whose judgment, whose values do you want in the White House when that crisis lands like a thud on the Oval Office desk?”

How about we bring that back to Chicago? In the next four days, an unforeseen crisis (unforeseen because he thought he had finally busted the Chicago Teacher’s Union last year with the "Performance Counts" legislation), is going to seize the city. Who do we want in the Mayor’s office when such a crisis arises? - certainly, not the guy who caused it.

It’s easy to use faulty metrics to vilify teachers and create a false public discourse. It’s much harder to face the realities of poverty and admit that you have failed as a leader to address them. Accountability in public policy, particularly public education is long overdue. Sadly, it only applies to those who have dedicated their lives to helping children and not to those who are making that job nearly impossible. RttT is “change from the top-down”, which is exactly what enables “democrats” like Rahm Emanuel to disregard parents, teachers, students, and other concerned citizens.

Given Rahm’s national status and the growing resistance to corporate school reform across the country, the impact of the Chicago teacher’s strike could reverberate way beyond the city limits of Chicago. The whole country is watching Rahm’s top-down education debacle and it is the Chicago Teacher’s Union that is the “change from the bottom up.” One can only hope that it will be a lesson in education and democracy for both Rahm Emanuel and Barack Obama. They need to know that union-busting, privatization, and attacks on public education and teachers are NOT Democratic values!!! Call them and let them know!