Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner said on Monday that some Chicago Public Schools resembled “crumbling prisons.” And people in Chicago were not amused.
The school district called on Rauner to apologize. Mayor Rahm Emanuel accused Rauner of auditioning to be the running mate of presumptive Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump.
And CPS parents, teachers, principals, and others took to social media to blast the governor over his language. With the hashtag #NotAPrison, they rebutted the governor’s claims.
.@GovRauner At my CPS school children receive small group instruction and are loved #notaprison @AnthonyCody pic.twitter.com/MsWdSOpc5W
-- Michelle Gunderson (@MSGunderson) June 6, 2016
Born in the Philippines, raised by a single mom, headed to Harvard //t.co/qA9KoJDhdH #cpsuccess #notaprison pic.twitter.com/CnX9wTcBru
-- Heidi Stevens (@HeidiStevens13) June 6, 2016
@GovRauner l’m not sure if every inmate in Illinois get a hug before they go on summer break! #NotaPrison #apologize //t.co/fdepzheZ0O
-- Ibrahim Mouzaoui (@Mr_Mouzaoui) June 6, 2016
Holden students are entrepreneurs not prisoners. @GovRauner Ask @moto #NotAPrison //t.co/1q1p2La1QZ #CPSuccess pic.twitter.com/tRlNYVGu5n
-- Jeanne Marie Olson (@JMOChicago) June 6, 2016
My son’s CPS scl values inquiry and problem solving. Students are critical thinkers. It is #notaprison @GovRauner. pic.twitter.com/p4Bq9DAjbV
-- Wendy Katten (@wjk1971) June 6, 2016
. @GovRauner my nhood @ChiPubSchools are the bedrock of my community.They are my all-in and deserve to be funded @GROWCommunity1 #NotAPrison
-- Alderman Ameya Pawar (@Alderman_Pawar) June 6, 2016
Just passing time until we can vote the guy out of office. #notaprison pic.twitter.com/nDHh7Zm3D4
-- James Gray (@PrincipalGray) June 6, 2016
The governor’s remarks about Chicago Public Schools came amid heated back-and-forth between Rauner and Emanuel about who is at fault for the lack of a state budget and a state education spending plan. It also came on the same day that superintendents from 15 low-income districts, including Chicago and Peoria, blasted the governor for playing politics with school funding and asked Rauner to step up and work toward a more equitable school funding formula.
For context, here is the governor’s quote, as published in The Chicago Sun-Times on Monday:
“The simple fact is that when you look objectively at the state of Chicago Public Schools, many of them are inadequate. Many of them are woeful, and some are just tragic. Many of them are basically almost crumbling prisons. They’re not a place a young person should be educated.”
CPS officials shot back that the district had made remarkable gains in recent years—even as it faced deep financial constraints.