If nothing else happens in Chicago, Rahm Emanuel will go down in history as the only mayor in the US to close 50 public schools in a single day;and now, he is considering a voucher program for Chicago;He has no interest in improving public schools and no hesitation closing them and replacing them with private alternatives. I met him, once, when I was invited to the White House in 2010 to meet with Obama's Domestic Policy Advisor, & his Education Advisor, to get my reaction to the Common Core standards & their $1 billion proposal for merit pay. Emanuel was rude. He said he had one question for me: Why do Catholic schools perform better than public schools and should we do anything to help them? I tried to explain the differences between private schools and public schools to him."