Chicago Teachers Union

Tuesday

Jeremy Carl

Why have Democrats mainstreamed a terrorist?

On September 26, the Chicago Teachers Union, representing all of the teachers in America’s second largest city, posted on X upon the death of “Assata Shakur” AKA Joanne Chesimard, that “The life and legacy of a revolutionary fighter, a fierce writer, a revered elder of Black liberation, and a leader of freedom whose spirit continues to live in our struggle." That would be one way to describe Shakur. Another way to describe her would be as a woman convicted of the murder of New Jersey police officer Werner Foerster, a former FBI most wanted terrorist who was broken out of jail by armed comrades and eventually escaped to Communist Cuba, where she lived under the protection of the totalitarian Communist Castro regime for the remainder of her life.

Joanna Chesimard

Monday

Corey DeAngelis

Why Chicago Teachers Union lionized a terrorist

When I first saw the Chicago Teachers Union's post honoring Assata Shakur, I thought it was a headline from the Babylon Bee. But no, this one was real, and beyond parody. The union, entrusted with educating Chicago's children, used its official social media account to mourn the death of a convicted cop killer, calling her a "revolutionary fighter" and "leader of freedom." Shakur was found guilty of murdering New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster in 1973 and later escaped prison, landing on the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists List with a $2 million bounty. To make matters worse, CTU Vice President Jackson Potter doubled down, declaring on X that "Assata was a freedom fighter!"The tone-deaf post is a glaring sign that the CTU can't be trusted to educate children.

Assata Shakur

Saturday

Bethany Lorden

Chicago Public Schools have failed. But there’s another option

Illinois recently released its 2024 Educational Report Card. The grades are, not surprisingly, bleak. Eighty schools reported not a single student who reached grade proficiency in math. Of the state’s low-income students, only 24.6 percent are proficient in reading, and 13.7 percent in math. The Chicago Teachers Union – with impeccable grammar and punctuation – blames insufficient funding: “[Governor JB] Pritzker cries poor, he is leaving $10 billion in billionaire and big tech tax breaks on the table. Reversing just a fraction of that windfall would provide [Chicago Public Schools] and all Illinois schools the funds they need to thrive.” Not that the CPS or the CTU have proven themselves emblems of fiscal responsibility.