Mayoral Control Has Been a Bust
It's hard to fathom why state political leaders thought it was a good idea to turn Chicago Public Schools into a wing of City Hall—surely one of the most disreputable institutions in the country—let alone placing power over the schools in the hands of one man.
Now, after two decades of destabilization, failed reforms and mismanagement, it's time to join with every other school district in the state, and nearly all districts nationally, in electing our school board.
The failed strategy was forced on our city in 1995 when Republicans, who controlled both houses in the state Legislature and the governor's mansion, threatened to withhold funding for CPS unless then-Mayor Richard J. Daleytook over the schools, implemented austerity and weakened the teachers union. Sound familiar?
Their motives were questionable. Springfield's disdain for the heavily black and Mike Klonsky's SmallTalk Blog: Mayoral Control Has Been a Bust:
