It’s normal — and good — for school leaders to honor inspiring teachers, beloved coaches, civic leaders and accomplished alumni, among others. Instead, on Friday, the Chicago Teachers Union chose to lionize Assata Shakur — a violent radical who wanted to overthrow the U.S. government. Quite the civics lesson. Message received.
“Rest in Power, Rest in Peace, Assata Shakur. Today we honor the life and legacy of a revolutionary fighter, a fierce writer, a revered elder of Black liberation, and a leader of freedom whose spirit continues to live in our struggle,” the CTU wrote in a post on X.
The union conveniently left out the part of the story where Shakur and two others were responsible for the killing of New Jersey State Trooper Werner Foerster and wounding of another state trooper during a shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike in 1973. Foerster left behind a wife and two children.
It’s unclear who pulled the trigger that day. What is clear is that Shakur was part of a movement called the Black Liberation Army that was linked to the deaths of multiple police officers across the country as part of its mission to take down Western governments. She escaped from prison in 1979 and fled to Cuba, where Fidel Castro granted her asylum.
Apparently, nothing says “freedom and justice” like fleeing to Castro’s Cuba.
We imagine most CPS parents — at least the ones not brushing up on their “Das Kapital” — might have been puzzled by this tribute. We also suspect that many serious educators and union members were also confused by this decision. Shakur certainly had her supporters back in the 1970s, and we all are free to mourn her death. But she was very much around guns, and surely we all can agree that today’s struggles are best waged without lethal weaponry.
The rest of the country sees this behavior and recoils in disbelief. This is who teaches Chicago children?
At a moment when the country is being choked by extremists (see elsewhere on the editorial page), the CTU decided the best contribution was to dive in headfirst.
Ald. Silvana Tabares said in a statement Monday that the “CTU has lost its way.” That’s been evident for quite some time.
One almost forgets this is a teachers union, not a chapter of the Revolutionary Youth League. Whether it’s striking over issues well outside the classroom or now paying homage to violent radicals, the message would lead one to believe education is an afterthought.
In all seriousness, the union representing Chicago teachers has much higher callings than this — namely, improving the district’s educational outcomes and championing solutions to reduce the violence problem in and around our schools. And it gives us pause to see the union openly championing a person who hated America and believed that violence was an acceptable way to achieve political change.
Remember, too: Fewer than 1 in 3 CPS students in grades 3 to 8 met reading proficiency standards, and just 18% are proficient in math, according to state data.
We’d love it if the educators affiliated with the CTU would focus on foundational issues such as reading and math instead. But we’re not holding our breath.