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
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
Mar 20, 2017
Chance the Rapper, a graduate of a Chicago public high school, met with Illinois governor Bruce Rauner to discuss why Chicago schools aren’t getting funded. He was not satisfied with what the governor told him. No surprise there.
Rauner and the Democrats who control the state legislature have been playing a game of chicken since Rauner’s election two and a half years ago. They have refused to pass a budget, meaning cuts to vital public services, and to most of the public universities. And now Chicago’s school board says without help from the state, they will have to cut the school year short by three whole weeks. At this point, the state of Illinois provides a smaller share of its school budgets than is provided by any other state.
But go to downtown Chicago and “look up” at the glittering new skyscrapers and parks. It’s obvious Chicago could easily fund the schools itself, without help from the state. But the Democrats who run Chicago would rather blame the Republican governor than actually educate working-class children.
Chance came back, gave one million dollars to Chicago Public Schools, and another $10,000 each to ten neighborhood schools. While a nice gesture, it’s a drop in the bucket compared to the shortfall of hundreds of millions for the whole school system.