When Chicago Public Schools announced that May 1 would be treated as a “Day of Civic Action,” it was designed to sound like a harmless attempt at engagement or civics instruction. In reality, it marks something far more troubling: the alignment of a taxpayer-funded school system with an explicitly political agenda tied to May Day protests.

Under guidance shaped by the Chicago Teachers Union, students were not simply encouraged to learn about civic life — they were steered toward activism, with schools functioning as staging grounds.