Violent crime in Chicago Public Schools jumped 26% last year while arrests hit record lows because Mayor Johnson and the Chicago Teachers Union are forcing police out of schools. That’s not safety, that’s politics.

When every CPS high school had two officers, violent crimes led to arrests 43% of the time. Now it’s just 8%. I support restoring school resource officers in CPS, especially in schools that want them. Principals and local councils know what’s best for their students, not a board handpicked by a political activist mayor.

Chicago’s education system is broken, and the Chicago Teachers Union is doing everything it can to keep it that way. They lobbied to shut down the Invest in Kids scholarship program, stripping 15,000 low-income students of a better path forward. Now they’re targeting homeschoolers with invasive regulations and attacking the charter schools that serve 54,000 mostly Black and Latino students. Their goal is clear: eliminate all alternatives so families are forced to accept the one-size-fits-none system the union controls.

But parents shouldn’t be punished for wanting something better for their children. Across the country, more states are empowering families with real educational freedom. Illinois should be leading that movement, not fighting against it. I’ll stand with parents, not the union bosses. That means defending charter schools, fighting for scholarships, protecting homeschool rights, and putting students first and not the political agenda of a powerful special interest group.

Chicago’s schools are being run by a radical political machine disguised as a union. The Chicago Teachers Union has made it clear: they believe your kids are theirs. They’re pushing extreme gender policies without parental consent, gutting school choice, and using your tax dollars to fund their political empire. Their new contract is packed with over-the-top demands that cost more, deliver less, and give them more power to control every part of the school system — from who teaches to what kids learn.

This isn’t just about education anymore, it’s about control. Our schools should focus on reading, math, safety, and discipline, not woke ideology and union politics. I’m running to restore common sense. That means ending union overreach, cutting waste, giving parents real voice and choice, and putting the focus back where it belongs: on students. The CTU has had free rein for too long. Enough is enough.