Chicago Teachers Want Their Governor To Know That They Definitely Know How To Read
Gov. Bruce Rauner called half of Chicago teachers “virtually illiterate” in 2011.
Chicago teachers are most definitely not illiterate, and they want their governor to know it.
Emails released this week by The Chicago Tribune reveal that Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner (R) called half of Chicago Public School teachers “virtually illiterate” in 2011, before he was governor. He apologized for the email during a press conference Friday, calling it “inaccurate and intemperate.”
When Rauner sent the email he was an executive at a private equity group that was involved with the Chicago Public Education Fund, a philanthropic education reform nonprofit that invests in local school initiatives. Rauner sent the email to several of the Fund’s wealthy leaders to advocate for a strong teacher evaluation system in the district. It was released after the Chicago Tribune sued for access to emails regarding a scandal involving Chicago Public Schools.
Per the Chicago Tribune, the email read:
“Teacher evaluation is critically important, but in a massive bureaucracy with a hostile union, where 50% of principals are managerially incompetent and half of teachers are virtually illiterate, a complete multi-dimensional evaluation system with huge subjectivity in it will be attacked, manipulated and marginalized — the status quo will prevail,” Rauner wrote.
In response, teachers have started a “teachers read” hashtag, detailing their reading selections.
.@GovRauner I'm a CPS teacher & here's what I'm currently reading. #TeachersRead
Rauner’s Friday mea culpa was preceded by the governor’s spokesperson Lance Trover releasing a statement Thursday apologizing, saying that the email was “sent out of frustration at the pace of change in our public school system.”
“Significant change can be frustratingly slow; this is especially true in public education. Many of us, at one time or another, have sent hastily crafted emails Chicago Teachers Want Their Governor To Know That They Definitely Know How To Read: