Rahm Reacts to Questions About Choice of School for Children

I'd really missed these Chicagoist bitch slap fights. Now I don't.

At least The Reader is paying attention:

Public schools, private budgets

If Tristan's name sounds familiar, that's probably because he was
previously Mayor Richard M. Daley's Human Resources commissioner. In
2009, Inspector General David Hoffman accused him of lying during an
investigation into city hiring. Tristan denied Hoffman's allegation but
ended up stepping down.

In other words, UNO gets to spend public dollars—the aforementioned
$27 million a year—but the public doesn't have a right to know how.

Given the optics here, I just figured he'd use his clout to get them into Northside Prep or Payton.

We can always rely on you to voice the half-assed right wing position that we think is probably out there, but don't have direct access to. Thanks for that.

This is why I voted for Miguel.

Well, that worked.

I wonder if Miguel would have sent his kids to a shitty school to pander to people like you.

He had one kid go to Gordon Tech, one to Lane Tech, and two to Latin. Not sure what exactly the elementary sitch was, but...

Um, 1 outta 4 ain't bad? Or something?

Yes, but he didn't need to pander then.

True. If only he had sent his kids to lousier schools than he could have -- all while not apparently using his time in political office to fix CPS, mind you -- maybe then we could take him seriously. But 3 kids to private schools? Clearly he doesn't give a shit about public education. Right? Right.

Actually when Del Valle was in the state senate he worked on the "Senate Select Committee on Education Funding Reform" trying to address funding inadequacies, and continued to be involved in the issues as city clerk.
http://www.nl.edu/illinoisscho...

And given the fact that CPS is still in a state of general shittiness, apparently he didn't have much success.

 well, a mayor can only do so much. the school system can only be corrected so much. if families and communities dont get their shit together, even the best school would turn out uneducated children.

True, but if this issue is why anyone "voted for Miguel", then he should be called to account for his success -- or lack thereof -- in tackling it while he had been in numerous previous elected/appointed offices.

Gonna roll with that as your comeback eh? 

#feeble

Yep.

#you'restillanidiot

I know you are, but what am I?!

#revslappy'sargument

I know you are, but what am I?!

#revslappy'sargument

You may want to google that.

Slappy can defend himself, but slatsg is the one who brought MVD into the conversation as a better alternative to Rahm. Slatsg is the one blowing smoke out of his/her ass here . . .

Sorry for not jumping into the productive back-and-forth you guys are having. I had some work that I had to do today. Got a flight to catch soon too, so expect more silence after this.

I know Miguel didn't fix CPS. You appear to support the guy who wants to dismantle it. I'm convinced CPS was nothing but a big pain in the ass for Daley as it now is for Rahm. It's an aggravation -- the way they see it, it'll never be fixed. So try to make it cost less and hope that poor people keep moving out and taking their little monsters to the burbs.

Argue all you want about the merits of protecting your kids. I won't argue back. Although I never went to a private school or a magnet school, my parents always tried to live in areas with good public schools.

I just liked the fact that Miguel DID at least have one kid who went to a CPS school. That means something to me. Why is that so much to ask? In my book, he had that experience of being a parent of a CPS student to bring to the job. Rahm doesn't. And what have we seen so far? In the first 100 days, his actions have spoken. It's the same old shit. Teachers are overpaid and lazy. Avoid talking about the crappy parents -- it's politically incorrect. Push charters because they're cheaper. This is no solution. If there are solutions they will be difficult and messy. I thought we had more of a chance of trying to address the problem with Miguel. Instead, same old bullshit.

And by the way, you wanna be Mayor of a city plagued by this problem? Well, then you're gonna get some shit from the media when you send your kids to a nice private school. It's a compelling news story that writes itself. Sure, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't, and it's not fair, but don't act all surprised and get on your high horse. Suck it up and deal with it or don't be Mayor of the third largest cities in the country. FWIW, I thought Rahm's argument was a valid one. At the end of the day, he IS a father to his kids. But he's still a jerk and it was ridiculous how he behaved. Nothing's off limits, Mr. Mail 'Em A Fish's Head.

It was kind of a non-sequitur indeed, but your responses were equally incoherent in measure, and in Captain Slappy's case:  simply wrong.

Mmmhmm.  ::rolls eyes::

Hey ChicagoD: Your points are "incoherent" and I'm "wrong". So, that, y'know, settles that.

::rolls eyes::

That sucks. I'm usually incoherent, wrong, AND a racist. Must be slipping. You know, taking the summer off.

My response discounted your claims with facts, examples and links, your comeback:  "He didn't single-handedly fix CPS, so I'm right".  Well done Captain.

My "comeback" (to borrow your juvenile way of framing things) was simply that del Valle should have to answer for his lack of accomplishment in addressing CPS's problems, just like every other elected official should. Not sure what you can't figure out about that.

#idon'tneedlinksforcommonsensebutmaybeyoudo

Digging yourself in deeper eh?  Sad.

Umm... Because his kids are no longer school-aged? Or because they, too, didn't go exclusively to public schools?

As ChicagoD already pointed out in the other thread, this is a lose-lose-lose scenario, politically. They get into a magnet school? "It's cronyism!!!" They don't get in? "See how unfair the process is?!?!?" Send them to a private school? "Rahm doesn't care about CPS!!!" Many of the same people making that third argument here now would be making one of the other two had things gone differently (at least a couple of them solely because they're sanctimonious, ax-grinding idiots who unsurprisingly believe themselves to be far brighter than they actually are, but I digress.) In that situation, how anybody can fault him for apparently sitting down and figuring out how to deal with the question, "What is the best education I can get for my kids right now?" is nothing other than a reflection of the fact that a lot of people are screeching, petulant busybodies who'd apparently rather tell other people how to be parents than try to address their own clear immaturity.

As someone has also already mentioned, Rahm's made no secret of the fact that he's well-aware that CPS is majorly fucked right now -- a problem he claims he intends to fix. But a system this big and this fucked is going to take years to set right; that means that in sending his kids to many CPS schools that will take a period of time potentially longer than their schooling to fix, he'd knowingly be giving them an education that's not as good as he could otherwise. And he'd only be doing it to prove a point. That would be playing politics with his kids. That would be a cynical political stunt. That would be an instance of elevating his political goals over his parental responsibilities.

But I don't expect the Pure Souls among us to understand that. Things far simpler than this seem to escape them with regularity.

Your backhanded "Pure Souls" comment is about me, but you're no Matilda there Captain Stubing.  I've said that I don't really care where politicians send their precious brats, and that I understand that there are safety issues involved that inform such decisions, so your bizarre and rambling attack makes little sense.  Too much wine today aboard the "S.Y. Weenie Whale" Cap'n Slappy?

Mmmhmm. ::rolls eyes::

I'd respond in more length, but I have to go beat one of my man servants for doing a poor job of making my preferred rum cocktail... He just can't seem to get the ratio of rum-to-poverty-stricken-childrens'-tears quite right, and it's absolutely dreadful. I had planned on hosting a dinner party for my fellow Yacht Club members aboard my sloop this evening, but this forces me to call into question the abilities of my entire crew. So if you'll excuse me, I'll be off to find some other people whom I can abuse, berate, and not pay a living wage.

Idiot.

Be on guard cabin boys, the good Cap'n is drunk, angry, and in a buggerin' mood.

::rolls eyes::

I'd respond in more length, but I have to go beat one of my man servants
for doing a poor job of making my preferred rum cocktail... He just
can't seem to get the ratio of rum-to-poverty-stricken-childrens'-tears
quite right, and it's absolutely dreadful.

I don't blame you, he should know that he's missing some of the key, special cocktail ingredients at one of your yacht parties.

#chloralhydrate #toppedoffwithaxebodyspray

I don't need the date rape drug; I just import sex slaves from third world countries. And no Axe Body Spray, either... the upholstery on my yacht is a combination of skins from endangered animals and olive-complected orphans, and the body spray would distract from its scent -- which, I assure you, puts even that of the best leathers to shame.

Idiot.

What's the best leather cleaner for removing feces, fondue, spilled wine and personal shame?

#revslappy #shopping

I wouldn't know. The sex slaves double as a cleaning crew.

Idiot.

While you weep uncontrollably?

#depravity #footingthebill #parentssickofit

The only thing that makes me weep is the thought that there might be exploitable people out there who are going unexploited.

#stillanidiot #hashtagsdon'tcoverupyouridiocy

I think I hear the siren song of the sea calling you Cap'n....or is that the yacht club bartender reminding you that she's underage and that your old man ended your tab last month.

Archer, is that you?

I'm certainly not a Pure Soul and totally understand that, as a parent, he needs to do what's best for his kids.

But I'm also a parent.  And as a parent that doesn't have near unlimited resources or the political clout to get my kids into U of C lab schools, I'm left to try to navigate the horror that is the magnet/charter/cps system and given the meager openings in those schools and the lottery system, my kids will probably be stuck in public schools.

Do I think it's a lose/lose situation for the mayor? Yup.  Do I fault the mayor for putting his kids where his resources and clout can get them a better-than-CPS education?  Not at all.  Am I pissed that the opportunities my kids will get for high school education will be significantly worse than the private schools the mayors kids get into?  You bet I am.

That is the heart of why this is a "Big Deal" to parents.  They get the choice Rahm is making, but they aren't unable to make that choice.  It highlights their shitty situation and it understandably pisses them off.  Yes, please, fix the system.  But until you do, you'll be dealing with a lot of pissed off parents and the contrast between the outcomes for your kids and the average Chicagoan's kids will highlight that fact.

I'm with you, but I sometimes wonder why we aren't pissed at the other parents. Parental income seems to be the single biggest predictor of school success, but parental involvement is the next. Since we are not all rich, what can we do to be involved? Some people are truly in situations where they cannot be involved at all, but I don't believe that it as many as are not involved.

Anyway, here's hoping we win the magnet lottery. Otherwise they'll be taking attendance at Mass . . .

I totally get that, and the "Yeah, must be nice to have the coin/connections to send yer kids to U of C, while the rest of us have to live with the reality of how bad CPS sucks -- which you talk about all the time. Dick." aspect of it. Totally get that.

But where I fault people is for claiming that it's somehow indicative of the mayor's commitment to fixing CPS. That it's not "walking the walk". Results should be the rubric by which to judge that, not where he chooses to send his kids to school right now.

So, I'm unclear. Are his kids an instrument of his being mayor?

Ahern should have just moved on. There are times to try to make a cute point, there are times when you risk becoming persona non grata. The cute point was too easy to make to get the subject of your interview that upset. Poor decision making.

Well, all I can say is that I sent my son to Univ. of Chic. Lab School and it fell far short of my expectations for a tab of roughly $15,000 a year. If I could do it over again, with 20/20 hindsight, I don't think I'd do it again. I will give the mayor some slack though because maybe he thinks that his kids will be physically safer there since he is a public figure.

Considering who Mary Ann Ahern has covered in her life, that's saying something.

Although I don't typically condone just walking out of an interview, I think that in this case Rahm was justified.  I saw the video and he was making it pretty clear that the subject wasn't up for discussion and Ahern kept pushing it.  I like Ahern alot, but she needed to back off.