At last somebody in the media nails Mayor union-buster.

Thank God for the Chicago Reader’s Ben Joravsky.

I say that not just because of the brilliant column he wrote about me last July, calling me the Paul Revere of school reform.

That was some great analysis.

But this week he shows himself to be the only one in all of Chicago media who hasn’t swallowed Rahm’s kool-aid about the 90 minutes added to the school day.

Joravsky nails the little SOB. Joravsky says it ain’t about the kids. It’s about power and busting the union. You would think this would be obvious. But the rest of the media seems to have missed the story.

I suppose Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, could have gone along with Emanuel, as her predecessors generally went along with Daley. She’d have spared herself the bitter debate with the mayor that included such heartfelt moments as “Fuck you, Lewis.”

Then again, we ought to look at this from her perspective. The longer-school-day showdown comes on the heels of two years’ worth of teacher-bashing dictates from the board of education. Faithful readers, you know this list too: adding hours, cutting raises, getting rid of tenure, creating the dreaded do-not-hire list for teachers who cross their principals, and of course, turning more and more resources over to the charters.

Yes, charter school teachers can form unions. But it’s a struggle. And even if they do unionize, the law prohibits them from affiliating with the Chicago Teachers Union. So the more charters the mayor creates the more power CTU loses. And there will be more—we’re up to 71 and Emanuel says he wants to keep them coming.

While the rest of the sorry bunch that passes for journalists in Chicago keep up the Rahm cheerleading, at least we have Joravsky.

 

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