The Spark

the Voice of
The Communist League of Revolutionary Workers–Internationalist

“The emancipation of the working class will only be achieved by the working class itself.”
— Karl Marx

Chicago Schools Still under Attack

Jul 18, 2016

Governor Rauner and the Illinois legislature passed a six-month stopgap budget that includes school funding. This supposedly will “rescue” the Chicago Public Schools next year.

Rescue? Not hardly! Forest Claypool, the CEO of Chicago Public Schools, immediately used this “rescue” to announce that he will continue the cuts imposed last February, when he reduced the per-pupil funding by 5 percent. Plus, no surprise, he wants big concessions from the teachers. The Chicago Tribune, the governor, the mayor, and other politicians down the line all piled on the demand for teachers to take their “turn” making sacrifices.

It couldn’t be more clear: the school budget threats were nothing but a con game to extort concessions from the teachers and the students they serve.

Teachers in Chicago have stood up to extortion before. They should be preparing to do it again!