Socialists Seek Control of New York Schools

Radicals transformed the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and hope to do the same to the Big Apple’s

By Mailee Smith. He is senior director of labor policy and staff attorney at the Illinois Policy Institute. Excerpts:

"Under the CTU’s influence, Chicago Public Schools saw academic achievement crater and enrollment collapse. From 2012-24, spending nearly doubled while scores dropped. Fewer than one-third of students could read at grade level in 2024, according to the Illinois State Board of Education. Even fewer were proficient in math. Enrollment has plunged by 77,000 since 2010. At the same time, the district’s budget exploded by 55% while the most recent contract will grant the average teacher a $114,429 salary, up from $86,439.

The CTU campaigned aggressively and won contracts proliferating a school model that has created poor student outcomes, capped charter-school expansion, and prevented near-empty schools from closing. Then the union successfully lobbied for an amendment to the Illinois Constitution that elevated union contracts over state law."

"New York already spends more than any other state on education—about $36,000 per student. Yet student outcomes are mediocre at best. Fourth-grade math and reading scores hover near or below the national average. The UFT’s calls for reduced class sizes and expanded staffing are more about money and power to pad their ranks than about helping students."

"The radical wing has already organized walkouts over political issues having nothing to do with education—rallying against Israel in November 2023, for instance. In Chicago, similar “days of action” are regularly used to bring students to the polls or engage on nonschool policy issues."