THERE’S A LOT OF RUIN IN A CITY: Is Chicago About to Hit Rock Bottom?
Though it might be hard to believe, things are getting worse. In 2023, the city elected Brandon Johnson, a former organizer and lobbyist for the Chicago Teachers Union who defeated former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas by fewer than 27,000 votes — the smallest margin for a winning mayor in city history. If anything, Johnson’s rampage of misguided reform is an object lesson in demonstrating what happens when a far-left activist controls the levers of power in a major American city. It’s not pretty.
Over the last 18 months, Johnson’s administration has attempted to build a migrant camp on toxic land, hired four top staffers who support abolishing the police, ousted all seven members of the Chicago school board after they refused to issue a $300 million high-interest loan, appointed a 9/11 conspiracy theorist as the new school board president, demanded (and failed to secure) a taxpayer-funded stadium for the Chicago Bears, attempted (and failed) to install a socialist alderman as chair of the city’s powerful Zoning Committee, canceled the city’s gunshot detection system over the objections of black and latino aldermen, and broke his promise to not hike property taxes.
Johnson’s mayoral victory, itself governed by the same logic of power and corruption that runs the city, was the culmination of a decade-long rise — and political radicalization — of the most powerful teachers union in America. The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is not only Johnson’s former employer, but also his largest campaign funder and supplier of political muscle in City Hall and Springfield. It’s also the single largest spender on Chicago politics. Though its $30 million budget is funded by teacher dues, the CTU spends just 17 cents of every dollar on teacher representation. The rest goes to administration, politics and other leadership priorities.
Plus: “Despite everything, Chicago is still an American titan: Nowhere else in the country can claim such cheap access to the richness of life that a big city provides. But it is the worst governed American city. As a result, it is an outlier with severe problems. Those problems are man-made, which means the solutions are, too. This may be Chicago’s turning point — a moment to rebuild its foundations. Not just in steel and cement but in accountability, transparency, and a government that serves its people. If the city’s past is any indication, it’s when Chicago is on the ropes that it finds the will to rise again.”
The real trick will be neutering the CTU, a parasite consuming its host. Is there any likely future mayor with the guts to take on CTU and be able to win a mandate from the voters to do it?