“It’s a definitive shift in the entire landscape, not just in Chicago, but throughout the U.S., away from privatization, school closures, charter schools, and the kind of Koch Brother funding of private schools instead of public schools, a threat we’ve been fending off for the last 30 years,” said Jackson Potter, a union bargaining member and high school teacher in Chicago.

Chicago voters made history by choosing two black women as top contenders for mayor. Both pledged to reverse Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s education policy.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s new graduation requirement builds on his record of antagonism toward teachers and students.