Chicago Mayor Johnson Fails the City’s School Children Again – Newly Appointed BOE President Resigns After Accusations of Antisemitic Posts
Chicago students just can’t catch a break from the adults who repeatedly fail them.
In October, the entire Chicago Board of Education resigned after repeated conflicts with the city’s Mayor, Brandon Johnson.
Johnson then appointed Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson as the new President, a role Ikenna Johnson could not hold on to for a week.
Jewish Insider reports that Mayor Johnson’s hand-picked leader posted more than a dozen Facebook posts with antisemitic statements following Hamas’ attack on Israeli civilians on Oct. 7.
Leaders throughout the city called on Ikenna Johnson to resign.
Over the last year, newly-appointed Chicago Public School Board President Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson has made deeply offensive and antisemitic comments, calling into doubt his ability to fairly represent Jewish students and families in Chicago Public Schools.
In response, I… pic.twitter.com/CqNwCyUVwd
— Alderman Debra Silverstein (@50thWardChicago) October 30, 2024
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson just appointed the antisemitic, pro-Hamas Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson as Chicago’s education board president. Johnson’s agenda is clear: the indoctrination of an entire generation of kids in Chicago. https://t.co/PtNf64gOuQ pic.twitter.com/e7BNsLx9vy
— Canary Mission (@canarymission) October 31, 2024
After less than a week, Ikenna Johnson resigned on Thursday.
Chicago Board of Education president Rev. Mitchell Ikenna Johnson has resigned at the mayor’s request, over what the mayor called “antisemitic, misogynistic, and conspiratorial statements.” https://t.co/rrvFs66XzK
— CBS Chicago (@cbschicago) October 31, 2024
Johnson issued a statement late Wednesday apologizing “to the Jewish community.”
“The remarks I posted were reactive and insensitive, and I am deeply sorry for not being more precise and deliberate in my comments posted last year,” Johnson wrote. “Since then, I have asked for and received feedback from my Jewish friends and colleagues, who helped me be more thoughtful in the way I address these sensitive matters.”
But additional Facebook posts surfaced Thursday in which Johnson supported a conspiracy theory that 9/11 was “an inside job” and questioned why working women don’t want families.
It is a shame that Chicago’s leaders care more about politics than the success of the city’s students. A recent Illinois State Board of Education report card is dreadful.
In 30 schools in Illinois, not a single student can read at grade level, 22 of which are in the City of Chicago.
In 53 schools, not a single student can do math at grade level, 33 of which are in Chicago.
