President Joe Biden, at the Democratic National Convention, said, “Donald Trump and the Republican friends, they not only can’t think; they can’t read very well. Seriously, think about it.  Look at their Project 2025.”

OK, let’s take Biden up on his offer “seriously” to think about those who “can’t read very well.”

The convention is in Chicago, the adopted hometown of former President Barack Obama and the hometown of former first lady Michelle Obama. They spoke at the DNC about “hope” and about the importance of everyone living up to his or her potential. For many Chicagoans, that’s a tall order.

In 2022, according to the Illinois State Board of Education, there were 53 Illinois public K-12 schools, mostly in Chicago, where 0% of the students could do math at grade level. There were 30 public schools, mostly in Chicago, where 0% of the students could read at grade level.

According to Wirepoints, an Illinois research nonprofit, there are “622 schools where only 1 out of 10 kids or less can read at grade level. That’s a whopping 18 percent of the state’s 3,547 schools that tested students in 2022. And only 1 out of 10 kids can do math at grade level in 930 schools.”

Do not blame lack of money. In 2019, Illinois had enough K-12 money to spend $18,000 per student. In 2021, it came to $24,000 per student. And in 2024, the total amount is about the same, $24,000 per student.

Despite these results, schools that by any normal standard should be considered failing are rated by the Illinois State Board as “commendable,” the second highest rating. Wirepoints wrote: “Take Collins Academy High School on Chicago’s West Side. With 219 students and 55 employees, Collins spends $27,163 per student. The Illinois State Board of Education declares the school ‘commendable’ … Not a single student tested was proficient in reading or math in 2023. And yet 79% of students there graduated.”

The Obamas’ daughters attended a private elementary school run by the faculty at the University of Chicago, where Barack Obama taught as a lecturer in the law school. When the Obamas moved to Washington, the girls attended an expensive private school.

Young Barack Obama lived in Indonesia with his mom and stepfather, an executive with an oil company. There Obama attended a private school run by the company. Obama’s mother then sent him to Hawaii, where he lived with his grandparents and attended the finest prep school in Hawaii.

As for Michelle, she attended a public high school in Chicago, but it wasn’t the school closest to her home. Her parents considered that school inferior. So, Michelle rode a bus some distance from home to attend a better school. Today, we call that school choice. But the Democratic Party, beholden to the teachers union, opposes school choice.

Where do public school teachers send their own school-age kids? The Daily Signal writes: “Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates and Illinois Education Association official Sean Denney send their kids to private schools while devoting their time to fighting against poorer parents’ rights to send their children to similar schools.”

In Chicago, DNC speaker after speaker gleefully attacked former President Donald Trump, that is, when they were not advocating “mutual respect.” Given the festive nature of the convention, one almost forgets that two-thirds of Americans consider the country on the “wrong track”; that inflation hit a 40-year high, which translates into grocery prices 20% higher than they were 3 ½ years ago; that last year, according a Payroll.org survey, 78% of Americans lived “paycheck to paycheck,” up 6% from 2022; that 80% of Americans consider eating at a fast-food restaurant a “luxury”; and that the average family of four spends roughly $1,200 a month more for the same goods and services it bought 3 ½ years ago.

Meanwhile, Vice President Kamala Harris says her goal of “equitable treatment means we all end up in the same place.” That’s quite a hurdle, particularly when many urban kids the Democrats purport to care so much about cannot read.

COPYRIGHT 2024 LAURENCE A. ELDER