Mayoral candidates square off at forum at South Side church
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Candidates for mayor of Chicago faced off Friday night in an open forum – this time on Chicago's South Side.
Civic organization Illinois 123GO hosted the event, which was held at Bethany Union Church of Chicago, at 1750 W. 103rd St. in East Beverly.
Eight of the nine candidates took part in the forum – Kam Buckner, Jesus "Chuy" Garcia, Ja'Mal Green, Brandon Johnson, Sophia King, Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Roderick Sawyer, and Paul Vallas. Willie Wilson was not present.
Topics discussed included education and supporting Chicago Public Schools educators. On that issue, the issue of education, many of the candidates largely agreed on the best ways to improve schools and support teachers.
King noted that teachers are leaving the profession in large numbers, and outlined a plan to bring teachers back – as well as centering schools as drivers of economic development, and bringing back education in the trades in schools.
Green called for moving from an enrollment-based funding formula to a need-based formula and emphasized that the $30,000 spent on each CPS pupil is not actually going into the classroom. Sawyer agreed with this contention – noting that he is an alumnus of St. Ignatius College Prep, where the tuition families pay is about $20,000.
For CPS, Sawyer said, "We're paying $30,000, and we're not seeing the desired result."
Buckner called for an end to the "corporatization of CPS," and called for the next person in charge to be an educator or someone with an education background – and a title of superintendent rather than CEO. Garcia emphasized making early childhood education more widely accessible, "diversifying the pipeline of teachers," and producing more opportunities for special education teachers.
Vallas also called for pushing money down to the local school level – and a return to some of the policies he championed as CPS chief executive officer from 1995 until 2001, including open campuses where school buildings are accessible after hours, on weekends, on holidays, and in the summer. He also called for a paid work study program that all city agencies, departments, and contractors would be involved in to give CPS students professional opportunities.
But Mayor Lightfoot fired back, saying her administration was already doing many of the things Vallas called for.
"You've heard the expression sometimes that imitation is the highest form of flatter," Lightfoot said. "I agree with what most of Mr. Vallas said, because we're doing it right now."
Lightfoot also said her administration is supporting teachers by living up to the Chicago Teachers Union contract – raising pay and bringing on more nurses, counselors, and other support staff. She said while former CTU President Jesse Sharkey is not someone who typically agrees with her, he called the most recent union contract "the best contract CTU has ever had in its history."
A few speakers later, Johnson – now a Cook County commissioner and formerly a social studies teacher and an organizer with the Chicago Teachers Union – was quick to point out that there had been a long and acrimonious teachers' strike on Mayor Lightfoot's watch. The October 2019 strike went on for 11 days.
"If you want to support teachers, you don't force us on strike for 11 days and take it out of our pay to fight for the things you said you agree with, Madame Mayor," Johnson said.
The city budget, handling violence, and supporting mental health were also among the subjects addressed.
The 2023 mayoral election will take place in 25 days, on Tuesday, Feb. 28.
