Emanuel talks schools legacy ahead of award
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Rahm Emanuel on C-SPAN's "Ceasefire" earlier this month. Photo: Shannon Finney/Getty Images
As former Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel teases a presidential run, he's touting changes he made at Chicago Public Schools and lecturing Democrats on what they're getting wrong about education.
Why it matters: Emanuel is credited with creating a longer school day, expanding access to early education and driving up graduation rates during his tenure. Many experts agree he left CPS in better shape than he found it.
- But critics, including teachers' unions closely aligned with the party, see his record as damaging.
Driving the news: Golden Apple, an organization that recruits, prepares and mentors teachers, is honoring Emanuel's contributions to education on Monday with its Impact Award.
Flashback: When Emanuel was first elected in 2011, the CPS graduation rate was about 56% and when he left eight years later, that number jumped to about 78%, which Emanuel credits to his focus on freshmen, as well as college-level courses in high school.
State of play: The grad rate has continued to rise up to 84% for the 2023 school year, but SAT scores are down, and high school students are missing more school, Chalkbeat reported.
Zoom in: Over the last few months, the former mayor and ambassador to Japan has scolded Democrats for what he says is too much focus on the culture wars and not enough on "classroom excellence," a sentiment he repeated to Axios during an interview last week.
- "I do think [if you're] having a debate about one child's use of a pronoun and not concerning yourself with the other kids in the class who clearly don't know what a pronoun is and can't read at grade level, we lost the plot to what a school does," Emanuel said.
Reality check: CPS expanded transgender rights in schools in 2016 with Emanuel's support.
Friction point: Any run for office means Emanuel will face questions about his decision to close 50 schools in 2013, the largest school closing in U.S. history, in predominantly Black and Latino neighborhoods. At the time, the policy sparked emotional city-wide protests.
- "As I always say to people, 'if you want somebody that knows how to husband their political capital on education, I'm not your guy.' I spent a massive amount of political capital," Emanuel told Axios.
- CPS reassigned students to what it deemed to be better-performing schools, but research from UChicago Consortium on School Research found that students' academic outcomes were "neutral at best, and negative in some instances," including with math scores and GPA.
The bottom line: Emanuel says he believes in excellence over mediocrity, and he's made it clear the Democrats' education policy is far from excellent. It remains to be seen who's listening.
What's next: Emanuel joins the hosts of the Slate's "Gabfest" Wednesday at Park West for a live taping for the podcast's 20th anniversary.