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CPS student video calls out Rahm Emanuel for a liar... Charter school claims by corporate America and its candidate for Chicago mayor are all privatization propaganda against real public schools

George N. Schmidt - February 02, 2011

Sullivan High School students who did the You Tube video challenging Rahm Emanuel's lies about Chicago public schools. Photo by Huffington Post.Chicago awakened on the morning of the big blizzard to find that three of the city's general high school students have challenged the claim by Rahm Emanuel, corporate America's choice to succeed Richard M. Daley as the city's mayor, that the best high schools in Chicago — with the exception of Walter Payton and Northside College Prep — are charter schools. The students, from Sullivan (a general high school) are challenging Emanuel's credibility on the question of public schools, citing school reports that were published in the Chicago Tribune, a newspaper that has been backing the Emanuel candidacy. The students who made the video are supporting Miguel Del Valle for mayor.

In a video that was posted to Huffington Post, the three students challenged Emanuel's statement that "If you take out Walter Payton and Northside (college preps), seven of Chicago's top performing high schools are charter schools.

Rahm Emanuel showed his hostility towards Chicago's public schools by snubbing the Chicago Teachers Union mayoral forum held at the Operating Engineers Union Hall on December 16, 2010. The candidates who participated in the forum were (left to right) Carole Moseley Bruan, Miguel Del Valle, James Meeks, Gery Chico, and William ("Doc") Walls. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.In his statements on the public schools, Emanuel doesn't offer the basis for his claims, choosing instead to simply repeat them. [Those who cannot get to the video through the hot link above can go to http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/01/rahm-emanuel-hit-on-schoo_n_816881.html?ref=tw]

According to the Huffington Post: "Cristina Henriquez, Gerardo Aguilar, and Alexandra Alvarez appear in a YouTube video, uploaded Sunday [January 30, 2011], entitled "Invest in Our Public Schools." The spot attacks Emanuel for his praise of the city's charter schools, and backs rival candidate Miguel del Valle for supporting neighborhood schools. "I go to Roger C. Sullivan High School," says Henriquez. "This is not one of the schools Rahm Emanuel cares about."

Moderator Cliff Kelley asked the audience during the December 16, 2010, CTU mayoral forum where the other "major" candidate was. Emanuel has been attacking union teachers, public pensions, and public schools throughout his public life, most especially during his time as White House Chief of Staff, when he helped craft Arne Duncan's "Race to the Top". Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.The video, which support the candidacy of Miguel Del Valle for mayor, uses information published by the Chicago Tribune stating that the seven best high schools in Chicago, based on test scores, are Walter Payton, Northside College Prep, Whitney Young Magnet High School, Jones College Prep High School, Lane Technical High School, Lincoln Park High School, and Gwendolyn Brooks College Prep High School.

As Substance has been reporting for years, the facts about Chicago's public high schools contradict Emanuel's statement and the general propaganda that has been spread by Chicago's rulers and the Chicago Tribune for the past decade. Those claims became national policy while Rahm Emanuel was in the White House as Chief of Staff for President Barack Obama, whose education secretary, Arne Duncan, promoted the policies that sabotaged the city's regular public schools and promoted a vast expansion of charter schools during the years Duncan served as Chief Executive Officer of the schools (2001 - 2008).

The students in the video make clear that the seven top performing Chicago public high schools are all regular public high schools. The video also allows viewers to view other videos showing Miguel Del Valle in action on behalf of the people of Chicago and its neighborhoods. Among the videos available at the same location is a lengthy one showing Miguel Del Valle visiting La Casita at Whittier Elementary School, the struggle for a library that was widely reported, including in Substance.

A month before the Chicago Teachers Union forum, Rahm Emanuel received the plaudits from corporate Chicago as a guest of honor at the UNO 25th Anniversary party at Chicago's Union Station. While the other announced mayoral candidates were snubbed or seated far from Mayor Richard M. Daley (above left), Emanuel was clearly featured at the head table (above). Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.Emanuel's statement has been circulating as part of the propaganda put out by Chicago's charter schools.

The claim, made most persistently by proponents of the Nobel Network of Charter Schools (and aired most recently at the January 26 meeting of the Chicago Board of Education) is a marketing claim, not based on fact.

Repeatedly at the school board meeting and in its marketing materials, Noble Network, which is heavily financed in addition to its public funding by corporate Chicago, claims that it is the "top non-selective enrollment high school in Chicago." Given the facts that Noble selects its students based on applications going in and routinely kicks out dozens from its "campuses" every year, that claim is as untrue as the claims that the Emanuel mayoral campaign is repeating.

Chicago Mayor Richard M. Daley made clear his support for Rahm Emanuel's candidacy for mayor of Chicago during the UNO 25th Anniversary party at Union Station. Above, Juan Rangal, John Pope (alderman 10th Ward), Richard M. Daley, Veronica Alanis, and Rahm Emanuel. Even though Miguel DelValle was present at the event, he was snubbed by Daley, Emanuel, and UNO leaders. Substance photo by George N. Scmidt.

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