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
Sep 30, 2024
The Teachers Union’s House of Delegates called for public schools CEO Pedro Martinez to step down in a unanimous vote. Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson then asked Martinez to resign. So far, CEO Martinez has refused to step down.
The union is raising the issue of the lack of funding for the public schools—a very real problem. Federal Covid money has run out, so the school system does not have money budgeted to pay raises this year. They have announced a nearly one-billion-dollar deficit for next year. The union says Martinez has not worked to get more money—perhaps not. But it’s not as if firing him will make a billion dollars suddenly appear.
For about a decade, the Chicago Teachers Union led major fights in the city to defend public education. Those fights held back some of the assaults by the ruling class and their politicians—school closings, privatization, and all kinds of other attacks. Those fights were important—they raised the problems in public education for working class families in the city. But they could not solve them.
The union leadership’s answer to that problem has been to get more and more involved in the electoral politics of the city and the state—supporting the campaigns of many aldermen and state legislators, and then, with Brandon Johnson, winning the mayor’s office. So far, though, teachers have not noticed any “transformation” in their schools.
What would it take to provide a decent education to every student in the city? Chicago is a rich city, the wealthy here have plenty of money—it only takes a short walk downtown to see that. But the ruling class in the city and in Illinois does not appear willing to part with any of their money to fund the school system. Ousting the school CEO won’t change that.
To fund the schools—and every other public service in this society—the working class would have to take hold of that money. The only way would be for the working class to take over the economy, itself, and run the society in its own interests. A tall order? Yes, but there is no other way.