Troy LaRaviere's passionate run to be Chicago mayor

If someone could determine the three ills facing Chicago, then they would be: crime, city finances, and the public schools. For the latter, it has become the cause that most residents want to see change the most; from fixing a bad physical plant (what Gov. Bruce Rauner described as “crumbling prisons”), to underfunded pensions, first, negotiated in good faith, and later subject to being de facto state government piñatas, to competition with charter schools, to mandated testing, to provisions for opting out of them.

Within this maelstrom, there was one central figure that famously battled the system, as principal, and community hero, and that was ousted Blaine Elementary School principal Troy LaRaviere, who has recently announced his candidacy for mayor in 2019.

During his tenure he took what was once a lackluster North side Elementary school and increased test scores, and worked tirelessly on behalf of students, as well, as parents to give students an equal footing with their suburban cohorts.

With an enrollment just under 900, Blaine was recognized by Chicago Magazine in 2010 as the 16th best elementary school in the city, and also the 6th best “neighborhood school.” But there were obstacles he said that prevented it from reaching the number one slot. And, in this struggle, public enemy number one, at least according to him, was Mayor Rahm Emanuel, whose tenure has been marked by what he has often failed to do: keep city schools open in neighborhoods that need them and shore up the finances and the physical plant required for daily instruction.

When he resigned, or some say, was forced to resign, LaRaviere was the one to publicly condemn those he felt were responsible for not allowing the school to earn even higher accolades.

In his open letter of resignation, posted on his personal blog, he cited politics as his nemesis as he turned around Blaine during his five year tenure; LaRaviere also noted, in his resignation, the fingerprints of the mayor, when he said ,“In a word, the biggest obstacle to Blaine becoming the #1 neighborhood school in Chicago was politics. And while many people contributed to this problem, nobody in our great city is more responsible for that political obstruction than you.” 

Taking the mayor head on, with a pointed figure, albeit a virtual one made him, a leader in many quarters outside of City Hall. And, as we wrote, then: “While the mayor has touted charter schools as having the best test scores, the opposite has been true, and the former principal  has “published research that revealed public schools produced significantly more academic growth in students than charter schools; exposed filthy conditions in Chicago schools that were the result of botched custodial privatization deal; and uncovered the manipulation of charter school test score data by CPS officials.”

LaRaviere’s support for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders cost him dearly, with Mayor Emanuel, and the Illinois School Board of Education, who felt that these activities were an ethics violation. But, his true sin may have been giving voice to many that the “emperor has no clothes.”

To put the mayor on a path of accountability, many have wanted an elected school board and two years ago local lawmakers held a series of town hall style meetings to address the concerns, and the mounting debt that had cost many schools, staff reductions and program cuts, and what was thought to be at least $8.7 million in looming cuts.

Chicago Teachers Union Kurt Hilgendorf, noted at one of those meetings, which in an earlier advisory referendum 37 wards voted for an elected school board, “more than for Rahm Emanuel [to remain in office].” He also noted that Chicago’s appointed board had been in place since 1995, and that it “is bad for policy making,” and “has limited participation for parents,” but is ultimately “bad for policy making,” especially with “the rapid decline in neighborhood school enrollment,” which are being drained by the charter schools favored by the board.

There are certainly those that want a board, but in a perfect storm, it would not offer as much shelter as thought, and probably not provide much needed debt relief, if any, despite the great need. But, those that feel that Emanuel’s dictatorial hold on the board and his disastrous chiefs, the now felon, Barbara Byrd Bennett, and the disgraced Forrest Claypool as two examples.

Adding to the mix is a racial component that has a system that is mostly African American and Hispanic, and an elected board could tip heavily in favor of whites, and disenfranchise students of color; but some are leaning towards a proposed district election rather than a citywide.

Fast forward to now and LaRaviere is still bashing the mayor, not only for incompetence, but his cosy relations with wealthy individuals and corporations. As the Chicago Tribune noted, “LaRaviere, who is president of the Chicago principals association, also charged that Emanuel's office is "corrupt" because "wealthy investors, bankers and corporations have seized control of city government to make it work for the few at the expense of the masses." LaRaviere pointed to a pair of Chicago Tribune reports from 2015 and 2017 that found that up to 70 percent of the mayor's top donors have benefited from actions at City Hall, from contracts and zoning approvals to appointments and personal endorsements from the mayor.”

All things being equal it became a showdown between the two and “In April 2016, the Emanuel-controlled Chicago Public Schools removed LaRaviere as principal of Lakeview’s Blaine Elementary amid allegations of insubordination for opposing a standardized test and ignoring warnings about engaging in on-the-job "political activity."

“LaRaviere insisted his firing was "politically motivated," and the move drew a rebuke from then-U.S. presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who slammed Emanuel for having an "unhealthy obsession with taking revenge." The mayor said he had nothing to do with the decision.”

With most of the city in the red, in the not too distant past, Emanuel borrowed heavily, despite a historically huge property tax, in the city’s history, plus a trail of regressive taxes, and “LaRaviere also takes aim at Emanuel’s financial management of the city, pointing to a Tribune report from March 2017 that found that the mayor’s short-term budget solutions would cost the city $1 billion in interest, much of it coming due after the 2019 election. On his website, LaRaviere predicts Chicagoans will pay for the debt with increased property taxes, dubbing it “Rahm’s Debt-Tax.”

“As mayor, I will be upfront about the cost of good government, end the practice of indebting taxpayers to big banks and raise enough revenue to adequately fund city services,” LaRaviere says on his website. He did not specify, however, what taxes he would raise or institute to come up with enough money to wipe out such debt, bringing a stinging rebuke from Emanuel’s office that he had no plan.

It may be too late for interest relief payment, but tax burdened Chicagoans could use an advocate for better fiscal oversight, and at the very least, find creative solutions, that stay within the strictures of the state constitution; and some ideas flouted have ignored that.

Long burdened by racial divisions, the school system is a symptom of that legacy, and racial equity, a plank in LaRaviere’s platform is a much needed effort to hit it head on.

He will have a harder time, as a person of color, in battling the machine, and the tenure of Chicago’s first black mayor, Harold Washington is indicative of the courage, and vitality needed to cross that hurdle. The powers that be will not move easily, as all who remember the Council Wars can attest.

His test, as the campaign heats up will be for details on how he can effect transformation, as well, and how he can make the transition from educator to politician and we will be watching, and waiting to see how he fares.