Oops! Rahm Emanuel sends wrong student to bill-signing
BY FRAN SPIELMAN City Hall Reporter/fspielman@suntimes.com June 16, 2011 7:12PM
State Sen. Kimberly Lightford of Maywood (standing left) joined Gov. Pat Quinn and leaders from across the state to sign historic education reform legislation at Lexington Elementary School in Maywood Monday, June 13, 2011. Quinn offered a pen to student Rei Kong (right). | Rich Hein~Sun-Times
Article Extras
Updated: August 3, 2011 10:33PM
When Mayor Rahm Emanuel watched Gov. Pat Quinn sign the bill paving the way for a longer school day, he brought along a first-grader from South Loop Elementary School, paid tribute to the little girl and looked on as the governor gave her one of the commemorative pens.
Emanuel told the crowd that Rei Kong had asked about his plans for a longer school day and year when he visited her classroom earlier this month. At a time when most kids are dreaming about summer vacation, this was a special student who was not only aware of the bill. She couldn’t wait to spend more time in the classroom, Emanuel said.
There’s only one problem with the mayor’s vignette.
He highlighted the wrong student. The question was actually asked by 7-year-old Parker Rasmussen, one of Rei’s classmates.
On Thursday, Parker’s mother wanted to know why her son was deprived of the rare opportunity to be the mayor’s invited guest at an important bill signing ceremony.
“Everybody knows it was Parker [who asked the question.] It’s on the school’s website. So is the [Chicago Sun-Times] article with the picture of my son being kissed on the head by the mayor,” said Marla Vender Rasmussen, the child’s mother, who works as a social worker at the Chicago Public Schools.
“What my son did was special. He knows about [the longer school day] because we talked about it. It’s a testament to our household that he knew to ask the mayor about it. Nobody told him to ask. It was a really genuine moment. To have a completely different student from the same classroom there is such a gaffe. It made me sad for him.”
The case of mistaken identity is particularly curious, considering the fact that Emanuel’s communications director Chris Mather was the one who identified the student as Rasmussen for the Sun-Times and lobbied for a story about the exchange.
On Thursday, Mather insisted that Emanuel “spoke to a table of children at South Loop Elementary about the longer school day, and it appears there was some confusion among his staff as to which child asked the question originally.”
To smooth ruffled feathers, an Emanuel press aide called Vender Rasmussen after the Sun-Times began asking questions and offered to have the mayor telephone her son to compliment him for “asking an awesome question.”
“They said they were sorry, but the mayor talked to a lot of kids that day.’”
The mayor then called Parker, and Vender Rasmussen said he was “extremely warm and gracious to Parker. It was more than a gesture, and he was genuinely interested.”
“I accept their story, and my son enjoyed getting a call from his mayor.,” she said. “He probably enjoyed it more than if he went to the signing of the bill.”
The exchange with the South Loop student has literally taken on a life of its own.
Emanuel mentions it every chance he gets to underscore the need for the education reform bill he championed.
He did it again on Thursday — twice — while talking about how much he loves the mayor’s job after his first 30 days in office.
“You can intimately see the type of things that you’re doing and how they impact peoples’ lives. I mean honestly — even though it’s a little over-used — where else do you get a first-grader asking about some public policy position?” Emanuel said.
The mayor added, “When a six-year-old who’s a first-grader knows that they’re about to get a longer school day for more reading and more math time, you’ve done something that touches somebody’s life.”
As for young Parker, even before Emanuel’s call, he was taking the mix-up in stride.
“He’s so cool. He said, ‘Oh, shucks. Maybe another time. Maybe they can go sign another bill,” Vender Rasmussen said.
Comments Click here to view or make a comment