The Stacy Gates private school controversy is as phony as they get.
I was anxiously waiting for the six o’clock start of the U.S. Open semi final match between Coco Gauf and Karolina Muchova last night.
It was no disappointment.
But I had to wait for the end of the local news.
I thought local political reporter Mary Ann Ahern was going to have a stroke reporting that local Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates sends her kid to Catholic school.
Apparently Ahern has been on this story for days.
This morning the Chicago Sun-Times runs the story front page.
It’s a phony controversy.
Former CPS schools chief and perpetual losing candidate in every office he runs for, Paul Vallas, penned an op-ed piece for the Tribune attacking Gates for her position against taxpayer funding of private and parochial schools.
That’s what this is all about.
It is no coincidence that this phony controversy over where Stacy Gates sends her son to school just happens to take place when the Illinois General Assembly is considering ending public money on private school vouchers.
Former mayor Lightfoot, Rahm Emanuel, the Obamas, and former secretary of education Arne Duncan all sent their kids to private schools.
Paul Vallas sent his kids to parochial school, as did ex-Mayor Richard M. Daley.
As do thousands of Chicagoans who are willing or able to afford it.
Me? I’m a public school grad as are my own kids and grandkids.
And I’m a retired public school teacher.
But my decision to send my children to public school and to teach in a public school was a personal one as is Stacy Gates’ decision to send her son to Catholic school.
The real issue is one of public policy: Should public money go to fund private and parochial schools?
Illinois and Chicago public schools are notoriously underfunded.
Although the Illinois legislature passed Evidence Based Funding (EBF) several years ago to address the problem, Ralph Martire of the Center for Tax and Budget Accountability wrote in a a Sun-Times op-ed:
As of today, the legislation is underfunded by over $3.6 billion. Under the statute, Illinois is supposed to increase K-12 funding annually by at least $300 million. But at that rate, the EBF won’t be fully funded until FY 2038 — meaning another generation of school children will be lost to an underfunded system. Bumping that annual funding increase up to $500 million, however, would fully fund the EBF by 2030, and ensure the promise of creating an equitably funded school system isn’t unduly delayed.
Meanwhile the misnamed Invest In Kids Act became law in 2017, when Democrats and Republicans met during closed-door negotiations to overhaul how the state funded public education and ended a budget impasse that had lasted for two years.
The cost: $75 million dollars for a private school voucher program.
At the time, lawmakers agreed the program, which started in the 2018-19 school year, would sunset after five years. In 2022, the state extended the program by a year, with it now set to end January 2025 unless lawmakers agree to include it in the 2024 budget.
They will likely vote on it in the coming veto session.
So, suddenly CTU President Stacy Davis Gates sending her kid to a Catholic school is a headline and Mary Ann Ahern is spending days investigating this non-story.
That’s why I say it is a phony distraction.