Democratic mayoral nominee Zohran Mamdani has made some bold promises on education, including ending mayoral control of city schools, making CUNY tuition-free, and hiring “thousands more teachers.” To evaluate the merits of these ideas, readers might look 800 miles west.
In Chicago, leaders adopted a similar playbook. They escalated school budgets, swelled payrolls, and granted effective union veto power over policy. Today, the Windy City is home to half-empty classrooms, woeful student-proficiency rates, and a school system lurching toward insolvency.
In 2023, Chicago elected Brandon Johnson, a former teacher and union organizer, backed by the Chicago Teachers Union, as mayor. His campaign was bolstered by $7.2 million dollars in union funds, constituting 95 percent of his total received donations…