It says something about today’s public education reality that the two sides in the teachers’ union dispute in Chicago were the union and the mayor. Allegedly, the point of schools is to educate children. But which side in this dispute has sole interest in children and their parents?

The answer, of course, is neither side. Unions are about the economic interests of the teachers. The mayor is about his budget and the economic interests of the city. No one solely represents the interests of the kids.