(Photo Credit: br5ad’s photostream)
Last week, the famed Douglas County School Board threw down the gauntlet against its teachers’ union, effectively running their Jimmy Hoffa butt out of the cozy confines of the Douglas County school district.
Yesterday, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel decided to do the Windy City version of the Douglas County heave-ho…
Reports the Wall Street Journal:
The Chicago teachers strike that began Monday has become a battle of wills between Democratic Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis.
Mr. Emanuel was elected with overwhelming union support, but now parents and taxpayer groups, outraged over the brazen action by the CTU, want to know if Mr. Emanuel will stand up to those who are preventing kids from learning. So far, Mr. Emanuel isn’t backing down and has called the teachers’ action a “strike of choice.” For her part, Ms. Lewis calls Mr. Emanuel “a bully,” a “liar,” and an “imperial” mayor.
Paul Ryan, the GOP’s vice presidential nominee, praised Emanuel’s decision to go all Douglas County on Chicago’s union mafia.
(CBS News) The two may agree on little else in the political realm, but vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan on Monday threw his support to Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel over his battle with the Chicago teacher’s union, simultaneously using the opportunity to draw a line between President Obama and his former chief of staff over a contentious policy issue.
…”I’ve known Rahm Emanuel for years,” Ryan said. “He’s a former colleague of mine. Rahm and I have not agreed on every issue or on a lot of issues, but Mayor Emanuel is right today in saying that this teacher’s union strike is unnecessary and wrong. We know that Rahm is not going to support our campaign, but on this issue and this day we stand with Mayor Rahm Emanuel.”
If you trust Emanuels’ word, the plot thickened today as Barack Obama took his former Chief of Staff’s side in the mushrooming political fight.
Speaking to reporters in Chicago today, Chicago Mayor Emanuel asserted that President Obama has already backed him up in against striking teachers, because many of his proposed reforms were taken directly from the President’s “Race to the Top” education incentives.
The President has not weighed in himself, so we will shall see if Emanuel’s statements hold up.
Still, the whole Chicago fight is proof of just how mainstream the Douglas County School Board’s decision last week was. Some education special interests, and some online publications that cater to education special interests, have done their best to marginalize the heroic, intelligent leadership of Douglas County Schools, including its Superintendent and School Board. But as the Mayor of Chicago’s tough tactics prove, the only people who are out of step are those who put the interests of union bosses ahead of the interests of children.
Rahm Emanuel, welcome to the side of the angles.
On behalf of Douglas County, we welcome you!