Under an expansive education plan released on Wednesday by mayoral challenger Brandon Johnson, CTA tickets would be waived all year long for children from Chicago Public Schools, tuition at City Colleges would be free and they would be governed by an elected board, and daycare would be free.
Johnson, a former educator and activist for the Chicago Teachers Union, presented his original views during a revival-style speech to the City Club of Chicago, which caused his lunchtime audience to get to their feet and scream his name.
Although Johnson, a Cook County commissioner, has previously revealed a tax-the-rich proposal to finance $1 billion in extra spending on public schools, transit, housing, health care, and job creation, he did not provide a cash amount for the proposed parade of freebies.
The suggestion to exempt CPS students from paying CTA fares comes at a risky moment. In part because the system is seen as unsafe and unreliable without enough bus drivers and rail staff to maintain its full schedule, the transportation agency is carrying only half as many passengers as it did prior to the pandemic.
Although fare box revenues are expected to cover half of expenses, they currently only account for 18% of total expenditures.
When the federal stimulus money that is now supporting the CTA system runs out, according to a number of mayoral contenders, the system could “go insolvent.”
Johnson Is Not Deterred By This
“Why do we make kids pay for transportation to a school that is not in their area? That’s why my suggestion is so straightforward: CTA ought to be free for every single child. Children should be able to concentrate on learning rather than trying to figure out how to get to school, according to Johnson.
Children were “still coming back to Cabrini Green because that was the community they were familiar with when Chicago Housing Authority high-rises were dismantled,” Johnson added. He claimed that some “went two buses and a train, and the oldest was 12 caring for their siblings.”
“Do you realise how dysfunctional that economy is, where children must hitchhike to school? In a Johnson administration, we’re going to change that, he declared.
Johnson’s proposal to waive City Colleges tuition and provide free child care to all working parents is guided by the same concept.
If corporations paid what they owned in taxes, Illinois could “finance free child care for everybody” while still offering “living wages and benefits” for child care employees, according to his education plan.
Additionally, Johnson pledged to make every school a “sustainable community school” with a full complement of after-school activities, social workers, and counsellors to address the “trauma that students and their families” in Chicago’s most violent neighbourhoods experience on a daily basis. Johnson also promised to provide “full funding” for bilingual and special education.
The “violence prevention and interruption” plans in his community school model also include “stronger and clearer immediate day of protocols following a violent incidence” and on the day an epidemic occurs.
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“I’m running for mayor to finally provide Chicagoans with security,” access to free healthcare is ensured. access to safe transportation is ensured. a promise of admission to a neighbourhood school with full funding. access to child care is ensured. access to a safe city is assured.
You guys can make Chicago a better place. Johnson exclaimed, thumping the platform and raising his voice like a preacher as his crowd stood to applaud, “We can do it.
“They claim we can’t win. I’m come to inform you that an elected school board was brought in. We established civilian control over law enforcement. To stop privatisation, we fought.
The city of Chicago will be better, brighter, stronger, and safer under the Johnson administration, no matter where you are. We will also finally have a mayor who believes in public accommodations.
