At the Chicago school board meeting Friday night, Jennifer Custer, newly elected to that body but yet to begin her term, stepped up to speak to a group of board members who hadn’t been elected to anything. They’d recently been appointed by Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson for a sole purpose: to remove a Chicago Public Schools CEO in the way of handing Johnson’s former brothers and sisters at the Chicago Teachers Union an absurdly generous labor contract the city can’t afford.
Custer, notably, had been endorsed by the CTU in the election. But on this day she had no words of support for the union, or for the mayor, or for these board members, many of whom soon will be her colleagues. Rather, she talked about kids and families and the future of CPS.
“Will it be the choice for families moving forward to give their children the best education possible?” Custer said. “Or will families find another place that truly cares about their kids and doesn’t play political games with their future?”
That’s what matters. And the immoral, myopic actions of the past few days have made the latter scenario all the more likely.