Once again, Democrats have shown their lack of self-awareness, let alone self-respect, when it comes to their “do as I say, not as I do” mentality. The rotund and often angry Democratic governor of Illinois, JB Pritzker (whose net worth is estimated to be almost $4 billion), shouted about how awful school choice is at a conference this past week.
Speaking to the Illinois Federation of Teachers, Pritzker claimed Republicans, as well as President Donald Trump and his allies, want to take dollars away from public schools and funnel them to private businesses.
“Republicans want to take billions away from public schools and pump it into private institutions,” he stated.
After that line got boos from the crowd of public school teachers, he continued, “They want to punish teachers for telling the truth. They want to criminalize educators for supporting LGBTQ students. They want to turn classrooms into culture war battlegrounds. And I’m sorry to be vulgar, but Donald Trump and his cronies can f*** all the way off.”
On top of the fact that most of his above statements are factually untrue, it seems incredibly out of touch to tell parents who are concerned about the quality of their children’s education to “f***” off.
That is who he is speaking to, after all: mothers and fathers. Grandmas and grandpas. Foster families and legal guardians. Not Trump, not political cronies — but loved ones around the nation and within his own state who think our children deserve better.
Pritzker himself sent his two children to a swanky Chicago-area school, Francis W. Parker, where annual tuition currently runs anywhere from $43,000 (for kindergarten) to over $50,000 (for 8th grade). What does the average single mother in the United States make annually? Less than the kindergarten tuition at the liberal governor’s school of choice ($40,000 a year on average).
The governor, who can clearly afford to send his children to any school in the world, no matter the cost, wants to make sure the minority mothers of Chicago never have access to a better education. And why? Because he, like many of his Democratic peers, is beholden to the power and money of the teachers unions.
Pritzker has been in an internal battle with the unions because they want more money. (What else is new?) He says he wants to give it to them, but he’s smart enough to know his state doesn’t have the funds to pay what they are demanding. So, when he cannot pay up, he has to prove to them he is still on their side.Â
The numerous Illinois-based teachers unions boast over 250,000 members combined; that number is more than 10% of the voters who showed up for Pritzker in his 2022 reelection. And if he has aspirations of running for president in 2028, then he knows he has to kowtow to the National Education Association (which has upwards of 3 million members) and the American Federation of Teachers (around 1.5 million members), in addition to the dozens of subsidiary organizations and groups around the country that claim to advocate our children.
Pritzker is not alone in his targeting of school choice. His gubernatorial counterpart to the north and likely 2028 Democratic candidate for president, Gretchen Whitmer, is known for her cozy relationship with teachers unions, which contributed $1 million to the Michigan governor’s race. She has vetoed the use of educational vouchers for her constituents.Â
In my home state of California, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has experienced past battles with the California Teachers Association, but overall, he has had a simpatico relationship with teachers unions, making sure student vouchers are not accessible to the children in his state.
Newsom did briefly lift the voucher ban, but only for those who lost their homes in the horrific wildfires this January. Despite sending his children to a school that costs $60k a year, he has consistently limited the parental rights and decisions of his constituents.
ILLINOIS LAWMAKERS PUSH PRITZKER ON FEDERAL SCHOOL CHOICE PROGRAM
Democrats are due for a reckoning at the ballot box for minimizing the needs of America’s children and limiting the rights of parents to choose what is best for their own family. They can pretend their angst is directed at fat cat lobbyists and Trump, but we are wise enough to know their hatred for educational choice is directed at us and our children.
Mothers tend to get really engaged when it comes to the well-being of our babies. These clips will serve as fodder for campaign commercials against Democrats in the future. Pritzker and his peers might soon realize that if they choose to “f***” around with our children, they will lose.
Elisha Krauss is a conservative commentator and speaker who resides in Los Angeles, California, with her husband and their four children. She advocates women’s rights, school choice, and smaller government.