Latest news with #Emanuel
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Opinion - On education reform, Rahm Emanuel talks a big game but is unlikely to deliver
San Francisco's public high schools recently tried to implement a massive change to their grading system— part of a 'grading for equity' program under which students can pass with scores as low as 41 percent. Moreover, homework, attendance and classroom participation would no longer factor into students' grades, which would instead depend mainly on a final exam — which, of course, they could retake multiple times if needed. Understandably, parents were outraged, in particular because this absurd system has been adopted by other cities and has failed to improve performance. After receiving 'significant backlash,' the plan was canceled. What a shock. Our public schools are in trouble, and even Democrats are noticing. Politico reports that Rahm Emanuel, former congressman, chief of staff to President Obama, Chicago mayor and ambassador to Japan, wants to run for president in 2028 on a platform of education reform. Emanuel has reportedly been 'road testing the outlines of a stump speech,' and it's a good one. He recently said in an interview, 'I am done with the discussion of locker rooms, I am done with the discussion of bathrooms and we better start having a conversation about the classroom.' Later, Emanuel told Bill Maher, 'We literally are a superpower, we're facing off against China with 1.4 billion people and two-thirds of our children can't read eighth grade level.' The feisty former mayor is stealing a powerful issue from the Republican playbook. It's a gutsy move. Attacking our education establishment, and especially calling out the teachers' unions, has long been the third rail of Democratic politics. The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers are, to lefty politicians, the most sacred of sacred cows. Not only do those two organizations claim enormous membership rolls — the NEA has 3 million members and the AFT has 1.8 million — that can help get out the vote and mobilize the public, they also spend tens of millions of dollars for political candidates, with more than 90 percent going to Democrats. For proof, look at the 2023 mayoral race in Chicago, during which both the disgraceful shortcomings of the city's schools and rampant crime were on the ballot. Paul Vallas, a tough-on-crime Democrat known as an accomplished school reformer, faced off against another Democrat, Brandon Johnson, a former teacher and labor organizer who was the favorite of the Chicago Teachers Union and its nearly 30,000 members. The race should not have been close. Vallas had a track record of success and the backing of the police. But he lost to Johnson anyway, who received over $5 million from CTU and other teachers' unions. From 2011 to 2019, Emanuel served as mayor of the Windy City. During those years he attempted school reform and took on the teachers' unions. The sparring resulted in the strike of 2012, which unions today celebrate because they won significant concessions, such as higher pay and reduced accountability. That strike also squashed the budding reform movement that had led to some school closings and efforts to set higher standards. It is credited with paving the way for similar walkouts in Los Angeles, Oakland, and Denver in the years that followed. The CTU calls the 2012 work stoppage 'The strike that brought teachers unions back from the dead.' All of this makes Emanuel a peculiar person to talk up school reform. That's not to say he isn't right in calling out the failures of our public education. In his home city, testing from last year showed that fewer than one in three students could read and fewer than one in five could do math at their elementary grade level. Among Chicago's 11th graders, only 22.4 percent could read at grade level in 2024, and only 18.6 percent performed math proficiently. This is unacceptable. Nationally, the news is grim as well. The most recent assessments from the Program for International Student Assessment tests 15-year-olds in over 65 countries; the U.S. places 18th overall, with an overall score of 1468, well below leader Singapore's 1679 and runner-up China's 1605. In math, the U.S. comes in 26th. The Chamber of Commerce Foundation reports that students in Singapore 'scored 110 points more than their American peers [in math] — five staggering academic years ahead of U.S. students.' As they point out, 'These results have huge implications for the United States' global competitiveness and national security.' Our country's education system is not short of money; U.S. public schools are spending over $17,000 per student on K-12 education. In 2019, our outlays per pupil were 38 percent above the level of other OECD countries. Something is wrong with this picture, and America's parents know it. We should care not only about national security and U.S. competitiveness, of course; we should also care about the kids — mostly non-white kids — who fall through the cracks of our broken schools every year and whose fates are often sealed by that failure. Recent state exams reveal that in 40 percent of Baltimore's high schools, not a single student was proficient in math. In Chicago, there are 22 schools where not a single student can read at grade level. How can local politicians — nearly all Democrats, who routinely ask for minority votes — accept that? Tackling the teachers' unions, imposing high standards, discipline and innovation — like using AI and other new technologies to augment in-class teaching — is part of the answer. Pushing school choice, which introduces competition into our sclerotic and underachieving system, is essential. President Trump and Republicans are on the right side of these issues, and must prioritize reforms. Emanuel is right to challenge the teachers' unions, and our failing schools. But his record shows he's not the guy to get the job done. Liz Peek is a former partner of major bracket Wall Street firm Wertheim and Company. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
On education reform, Rahm Emanuel talks a big game but is unlikely to deliver
San Francisco's public high schools recently tried to implement a massive change to their grading system— part of a 'grading for equity' program under which students can pass with scores as low as 41 percent. Moreover, homework, attendance and classroom participation would no longer factor into students' grades, which would instead depend mainly on a final exam — which, of course, they could retake multiple times if needed. Understandably, parents were outraged, in particular because this absurd system has been adopted by other cities and has failed to improve performance. After receiving 'significant backlash,' the plan was canceled. What a shock. Our public schools are in trouble, and even Democrats are noticing. Politico reports that Rahm Emanuel, former congressman, chief of staff to President Obama, Chicago mayor and ambassador to Japan, wants to run for president in 2028 on a platform of education reform. Emanuel has reportedly been 'road testing the outlines of a stump speech,' and it's a good one. He recently said in an interview, 'I am done with the discussion of locker rooms, I am done with the discussion of bathrooms and we better start having a conversation about the classroom.' Later, Emanuel told Bill Maher, 'We literally are a superpower, we're facing off against China with 1.4 billion people and two-thirds of our children can't read eighth grade level.' The feisty former mayor is stealing a powerful issue from the Republican playbook. It's a gutsy move. Attacking our education establishment, and especially calling out the teachers' unions, has long been the third rail of Democratic politics. The National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers are, to lefty politicians, the most sacred of sacred cows. Not only do those two organizations claim enormous membership rolls — the NEA has 3 million members and the AFT has 1.8 million — that can help get out the vote and mobilize the public, they also spend tens of millions of dollars for political candidates, with more than 90 percent going to Democrats. For proof, look at the 2023 mayoral race in Chicago, during which both the disgraceful shortcomings of the city's schools and rampant crime were on the ballot. Paul Vallas, a tough-on-crime Democrat known as an accomplished school reformer, faced off against another Democrat, Brandon Johnson, a former teacher and labor organizer who was the favorite of the Chicago Teachers Union and its nearly 30,000 members. The race should not have been close. Vallas had a track record of success and the backing of the police. But he lost to Johnson anyway, who received over $5 million from CTU and other teachers' unions. From 2011 to 2019, Emanuel served as mayor of the Windy City. During those years he attempted school reform and took on the teachers' unions. The sparring resulted in the strike of 2012, which unions today celebrate because they won significant concessions, such as higher pay and reduced accountability. That strike also squashed the budding reform movement that had led to some school closings and efforts to set higher standards. It is credited with paving the way for similar walkouts in Los Angeles, Oakland, and Denver in the years that followed. The CTU calls the 2012 work stoppage 'The strike that brought teachers unions back from the dead.' All of this makes Emanuel a peculiar person to talk up school reform. That's not to say he isn't right in calling out the failures of our public education. In his home city, testing from last year showed that fewer than one in three students could read and fewer than one in five could do math at their elementary grade level. Among Chicago's 11th graders, only 22.4 percent could read at grade level in 2024, and only 18.6 percent performed math proficiently. This is unacceptable. Nationally, the news is grim as well. The most recent assessments from the Program for International Student Assessment tests 15-year-olds in over 65 countries; the U.S. places 18th overall, with an overall score of 1468, well below leader Singapore's 1679 and runner-up China's 1605. In math, the U.S. comes in 26th. The Chamber of Commerce Foundation reports that students in Singapore 'scored 110 points more than their American peers [in math] — five staggering academic years ahead of U.S. students.' As they point out, 'These results have huge implications for the United States' global competitiveness and national security.' Our country's education system is not short of money; U.S. public schools are spending over $17,000 per student on K-12 education. In 2019, our outlays per pupil were 38 percent above the level of other OECD countries. Something is wrong with this picture, and America's parents know it. We should care not only about national security and U.S. competitiveness, of course; we should also care about the kids — mostly non-white kids — who fall through the cracks of our broken schools every year and whose fates are often sealed by that failure. Recent state exams reveal that in 40 percent of Baltimore's high schools, not a single student was proficient in math. In Chicago, there are 22 schools where not a single student can read at grade level. How can local politicians — nearly all Democrats, who routinely ask for minority votes — accept that? Tackling the teachers' unions, imposing high standards, discipline and innovation — like using AI and other new technologies to augment in-class teaching — is part of the answer. Pushing school choice, which introduces competition into our sclerotic and underachieving system, is essential. President Trump and Republicans are on the right side of these issues, and must prioritize reforms. Emanuel is right to challenge the teachers' unions, and our failing schools. But his record shows he's not the guy to get the job done. Liz Peek is a former partner of major bracket Wall Street firm Wertheim and Company.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Rahm Emanuel flirts with Democratic run for the White House
While Democrats search for a new party leader, one old name keeps coming up in conversation: Rahm Emanuel. The Democrat has been an investment banker, congressman, White House chief of staff, Chicago mayor, and U.S. ambassador to Japan, and now he's been thinking about adding another title to his long resume: president. There's just one problem: 'As well-known as he is, people don't really know him,' said former Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), who is in touch with his former House colleague. Still, Israel and other Democrats familiar with Emanuel, 65, say it would be unwise to count him out. After all, Democrats say there aren't many people on the list of potential candidates who can raise money and organize better than Emanuel, who helped run the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2006 and was credited with flipping the House back to Democrats in that cycle. 'What fascinates me about him is that for him it's all about winning,' Israel said. 'And he knows how to win the most challenging of battles.' Emanuel hasn't made a decision about whether he'll run for president and the Democratic nomination. Sources close to him say he's still making up his mind while consulting with his family (including his brother Ari Emanuel, the Hollywood mega agent) and other key Democratic allies. But he is already leaving breadcrumbs about a potential run, including making an appearance at the all-important stop for any Democrat with big political aspirations: the September fish fry in Iowa. He has also signed a contributor contract with CNN and has hit the speaking circuit. 'I am in training,' Emanuel told the hosts of 'The View' earlier this month, not hiding his intentions. 'I don't know if I'll make the Olympics.' In the meantime, since leaving his post as ambassador to Japan under the Biden administration, he has been making the rounds and offering his blunt assessments of the state of the Democratic Party. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal this week, he called the Democratic brand 'toxic' and 'weak and woke.' 'I'm tired of sitting in the back seat when somebody's gunning it at 90 miles an hour for a cliff,' Emanuel told the Journal in the interview. 'If you want the country to give you the keys to the car, somebody's got to be articulating an agenda that's fighting for America, not just fighting for [President] Trump.' (Those who have spoken to him in recent months say in typical Emanuel fashion he's even more candid in private about how pathetic the current state of the party is and how rudderless its leadership is.) In regular columns in The Washington Post, he has also been giving Democrats advice on how to reemerge from the so-called wilderness. 'Yes, we should oppose the MAGA agenda at every turn. But given that we control neither the bully pulpit nor any congressional gavel, we need to focus foremost on what's winnable: next year's midterm elections,' Emanuel wrote in a column earlier this month. 'Our task is to help the public understand what the Republicans are doing and how it affects them.' Those who know Emanuel — whom one Democrat described as a 'whip smart bulldog' — say he meets the moment. 'No one — and I mean no one — is feistier than Rahm,' one major Democratic bundler said. 'He can land punches like no other, and he would be Trump's worst enemy. 'He'd know exactly what to say not only to bust his chops but to live in his head,' the bundler said. 'That's exactly what we need right now. There's a huge void there.' The bundler also predicted that few people could raise as much money as Emanuel, something that would give him an automatic advantage in what is expected to be the most crowded presidential field in modern history. 'He would start from a position of strength,' the bundler said. But one Democratic strategist said Emanuel's record — particularly as mayor of Chicago — could be a thorn in his side. 'His record as mayor of Chicago is absolutely something that I would expect to be used against him,' the strategist said. 'He carries a lot of unresolved baggage from that tenure.' And what might hurt him even more is that he's been around the block and Democrats could be wanting to kick the establishment to the curb. 'Less of a commentary on Rahm, it's very likely that the moment is going to call for Democrats to make a clean break with the past and with the status quo,' the strategist said. 'One big hurdle for him is that he is both.' But Israel said Emanuel offers the electorate a broad range of dimensions. 'Trump wins because he organized MAGA, but Rahm always wins because he organizes mega, He puts together progressives and [moderate] Blue Dogs. He knows how to win these coalitions,' Israel said, referencing the caucus of centrist Democrats. The strategist has some doubts. 'This is a guy who used to do that,' the strategist said. 'But we live in a different era.' Amie Parnes covers the White House and presidential politics for The Hill. She is also the co-author of several bestsellers, including the recent 'Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Rahm Emanuel flirts with Democratic run for the White House
While Democrats search for a new party leader, one old name keeps coming up in conversation: Rahm Emanuel. The Democrat has been an investment banker, congressman, White House chief of staff, Chicago mayor, and U.S. ambassador to Japan, and now he's been thinking about adding another title to his long resume: president. There's just one problem: 'As well-known as he is, people don't really know him,' said former Rep. Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), who is in touch with his former House colleague. Still, Israel and other Democrats familiar with Emanuel, 65, say it would be unwise to count him out. After all, Democrats say there aren't many people on the list of potential candidates who can raise money and organize better than Emanuel, who helped run the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2006 and was credited with flipping the House back to Democrats in that cycle. 'What fascinates me about him is that for him it's all about winning,' Israel said. 'And he knows how to win the most challenging of battles.' Emanuel hasn't made a decision about whether he'll run for president and the Democratic nomination. Sources close to him say he's still making up his mind while consulting with his family (including his brother Ari Emanuel, the Hollywood mega agent) and other key Democratic allies. But he is already leaving breadcrumbs about a potential run, including making an appearance at the all-important stop for any Democrat with big political aspirations: the September fish fry in Iowa. He has also signed a contributor contract with CNN and has hit the speaking circuit. 'I am in training,' Emanuel told the hosts of 'The View' earlier this month, not hiding his intentions. 'I don't know if I'll make the Olympics.' In the meantime, since leaving his post as ambassador to Japan under the Biden administration, he has been making the rounds and offering his blunt assessments of the state of the Democratic Party. In an interview with The Wall Street Journal this week, he called the Democratic brand 'toxic' and 'weak and woke.' 'I'm tired of sitting in the back seat when somebody's gunning it at 90 miles an hour for a cliff,' Emanuel told the Journal in the interview. 'If you want the country to give you the keys to the car, somebody's got to be articulating an agenda that's fighting for America, not just fighting for [President] Trump.' (Those who have spoken to him in recent months say in typical Emanuel fashion he's even more candid in private about how pathetic the current state of the party is and how rudderless its leadership is.) In regular columns in The Washington Post, he has also been giving Democrats advice on how to reemerge from the so-called wilderness. 'Yes, we should oppose the MAGA agenda at every turn. But given that we control neither the bully pulpit nor any congressional gavel, we need to focus foremost on what's winnable: next year's midterm elections,' Emanuel wrote in a column earlier this month. 'Our task is to help the public understand what the Republicans are doing and how it affects them.' Those who know Emanuel — whom one Democrat described as a 'whip smart bulldog' — say he meets the moment. 'No one — and I mean no one — is feistier than Rahm,' one major Democratic bundler said. 'He can land punches like no other, and he would be Trump's worst enemy. 'He'd know exactly what to say not only to bust his chops but to live in his head,' the bundler said. 'That's exactly what we need right now. There's a huge void there.' The bundler also predicted that few people could raise as much money as Emanuel, something that would give him an automatic advantage in what is expected to be the most crowded presidential field in modern history. 'He would start from a position of strength,' the bundler said. But one Democratic strategist said Emanuel's record — particularly as mayor of Chicago — could be a thorn in his side. 'His record as mayor of Chicago is absolutely something that I would expect to be used against him,' the strategist said. 'He carries a lot of unresolved baggage from that tenure.' And what might hurt him even more is that he's been around the block and Democrats could be wanting to kick the establishment to the curb. 'Less of a commentary on Rahm, it's very likely that the moment is going to call for Democrats to make a clean break with the past and with the status quo,' the strategist said. 'One big hurdle for him is that he is both.' But Israel said Emanuel offers the electorate a broad range of dimensions. 'Trump wins because he organized MAGA, but Rahm always wins because he organizes mega, He puts together progressives and [moderate] Blue Dogs. He knows how to win these coalitions,' Israel said, referencing the caucus of centrist Democrats. The strategist has some doubts. 'This is a guy who used to do that,' the strategist said. 'But we live in a different era.' Amie Parnes covers the White House and presidential politics for The Hill. She is also the co-author of several bestsellers, including the recent 'Fight: Inside the Wildest Battle for the White House.'
Yahoo
4 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Rahm Emanuel thinks he should run for president. Please don't.
Rahm Emanuel, an adviser to President Bill Clinton, the White House chief of staff for President Barack Obama and a former mayor of Chicago, appears to be eyeing a 2028 White House run. Color me unexcited. Emanuel, who embodies the failed Democratic strategy of always tacking to the right and showing deference to the GOP, would likely lead the party back toward the kind of ideas that got it in this mess. The Wall Street Journal reports that Emanuel will be the headliner at a September fish fry for Democrats in Iowa — a clear signal that he's at least toying around with the idea of a White House bid. He told the Journal, 'I'm tired of sitting in the back seat when somebody's gunning it at 90 miles an hour for a cliff.' Emanuel tried on populism for size in that Journal interview, saying, 'The public's not wrong. They figured it out. The system's rigged. It's corrupt.' But the pitchfork is hardly a good fit for a man who stood opposed to expanding Americans' access to health care. And his vacuous centrism comes through in his hints at a game plan. The Journal reports: [Emanuel] is direct about what he thinks Democrats need to do to win national elections again. He calls the party's brand 'toxic' and 'weak and woke,' a nod to culture-war issues he thinks Democrats have become too often fixated on that President Trump has successfully used against them." Emanuel was a featured speaker this month at a retreat for the centrist New Democrat Coalition, and after he spoke, the Journal reports, a member of that coalition, Rep. Greg Landsman, D-Ohio, praised him as a 'huge voice' for shaping the party and deeply in touch with voters. Emanuel is affiliating with (and sounding a lot like) the centrists who have no answer to Trump other than to cave and triangulate, thereby pushing the party to the right at a time during the country's slide toward autocracy. Emanuel's phrase 'weak and woke' is the exact phrase that centrist Democrat Sen. Elissa Slotkin of Michigan has used to criticize the Democratic brand. There's no question that the Democratic Party has an existential brand problem and that it's not on strong ground on issues revolving around identity politics. But the central question facing the party is what it actually stands for, especially on economic issues, at a time when the neoliberal consensus that it helped craft has fallen apart and the working class is drifting away from it. There is no reason to think Emanuel is the one for the job. He does possess the 'alpha' energy that Slotkin has called for, but toward what end? On issue over issue, Emanuel has made his name pushing Democrats in the wrong direction. As the historian Rick Perlstein wrote in The New Yorker in 2015, Emanuel is known for getting things done by bucking what he views as liberal 'theology' and sprinting to the right. Perlstein pointed out the folly of many of his signature accomplishments as a senior adviser under President Clinton: Among his special projects was helping to pass the North American Free Trade Agreement and the 1994 crime bill. He also tried to push Clinton to the right on immigration, advising the President, in a memo in November, 1996, to work to 'claim and achieve record deportations of criminal aliens.' These all, in the fullness of time, turned out to be mistakes. NAFTA, in alienating the Party's working-class base, contributed to the Democrats losing control of the House of Representatives in 1994. As for the crime bill, which included a 'three strikes' provision that mandated life terms for criminals convicted of violent crimes even if their other two offenses were nonviolent, Clinton himself has apologized for it, saying that the policy 'made the problem worse.' The attempt to out-Republican the Republicans on immigration never took off." As chief of staff under Obama, Emanuel 'begged' the president not to pursue the Affordable Care Act, Obama's already far too incremental push for health care reform. As mayor of Chicago, Emanuel reportedly shunned community leaders and focused on businessmen, including Republicans, in his voracious fundraising efforts. He also sought to cover up the police murder of Black teen Laquan McDonald, a maneuver that legal analyst Chris Geidner in an MSNBC column called 'one of the more soulless moves by a Democratic politician in recent memory.' (Emanuel has denied that it was a cover up.) Emanuel is one of the architects of the party's crisis, not one of its saviors, and his positions have rightly attracted sharp condemnations from progressives over the years. And unlike younger Democratic moderates like former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Emanuel has a record of attacking the left rather than trying to compromise with it. A new Emanuel would in all likelihood operate a lot like the old Emanuel. And the old Emanuel is the kind of Democrat the party needs to shun. This article was originally published on
