Chicago's Mayor Johnson and Democratic Party education policy.

Teacher, union organizer and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson was sworn in as Chicago’s mayor on Monday.

Welcome Mayor Johnson.

When we live in a time when cities can seem to some as ungovernable, I can only hope for him success.

The best of those who are chosen to lead can often face unexpected and unpredictable events that undo the most progressive of plans.

Who could have predicted that Mayor Lightfoot would have to deal with a once in a century pandemic that had wide social impact beyond the pandemic itself?

A national public health system that was totally unprepared for the Covid crisis.

The nearly unrestricted and unregulated access to guns leading to historic national levels of gun violence.

City and national infrastructure crumbling from decades of neglect.

And more.

In his speech yesterday, Mayor Johnson addressed the issue of schools and eduction, an issue that as a retired career school teacher, is near and dear to my heart.

“Let’s create a public education system that resources children based on need and not just on numbers,” Johnson said. 

Some have predicted that the election of Brandon to be mayor of a city with the fourth largest school district in the country might represent a shift in Democratic Party education policy.

I hope so.

Chicago under Mayors Daley and Emanuel gave the country Arne Duncan and Paul Vallas who together were the personifications of the worst kinds of top-down, one-size-fits-all curriculum, reliance on standardized testing as accountability and union busting.

Corporate school reform groups like Democrats for Education Reform and Stand for Children dominated the Democratic Party’s education agenda for two decades.

Joe Biden’s Department of Education has mostly been silent on these issues.

If Chicago’s election of Brandon Johnson does reflect a national shift, let alone a local one, it must do it in the face of a MAGA assault on free expression, historical truths and teacher rights.

None of this will be easy.

So, yes. I wish the Mayor the best and will do what I can to help.