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An elected Chicago Public Schools board is supposed to be about democracy, but what happened in Springfield had nothing to do with democracy, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Wednesday.

One day after the Illinois Senate overwhelmingly voted to phase in what the mayor has long viewed as an unwieldy 21-member elected school board, Lightfoot said that vote her latest in a string of legislative defeats was only temporary.

Were gonna keep our fight where it should be: making sure that our children are heard. That their educational futures are secured. That parents have a seat at the table. Why that sense of urgency around those core values is something that some folks in Springfield dont get, I dont know. But there has to be accountability for ignoring the people, she said.

This is supposed to be about democracy, but what happened in Springfield had nothing to do with democracy. But democracy mark my word will prevail.

Lightfoot called the switch from an appointed to an elected school board the most consequential change in governance in decades, if not ever for the Chicago Public Schools.

As such, It cant be about the politics. Its got to be about the people, meaning the students and their parents, she said.

But the mayor argued the Senate version would virtually exclude parents from competing in school board seats because there are no controls around how much money gets spent on those races.

Pointing to a $1 million school board race in Los Angeles, Lightfoot said: We dont need that here in Chicago.

It is critically important that there is a negotiated resolution that puts our children and our parents first. I do not believe what came out of the Senate does any of those things. Im gonna keep fighting ... to get a negotiated resolution that reflects the realities and necessities of CPS. But weve got a lot of work to do.

A 21-member elected board could affect Lightfoots ability to find a replacement for retiring Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson, she said.

It could have a negative impact if a CEO doesnt believe that he or she is actually gonna have the ability to make a meaningful difference in the quality of education in the lives of our children, Lightfoot said.

Weve made that argument over and over again. Thats something that clearly fell on way too many deaf ears.

Yet another concern is the built-in moratorium on school closings, consolidations or phase-outs until the new board members take office in early 2025.

Its a mistake that we would foreclose parents ability to come together with a plan and offer up consolidation or some other reshaping of schools, Lightfoot said.

For example, theres a group of parents in North Lawndale that have been trying for years to consolidate three schools [to] get one school that is a STEM program. The language that is in that bill right now would cut that off at the pass and not allow it to happen. Thats a mistake. We made that argument. But it fell on deaf ears in the Senate.

Lightfoot campaigned as a staunch proponent of an elected school board, only to repeatedly block what she calls an unwieldy bill that would triple the size of the board to 21 members: 20 members elected from local districts, headed by a president elected by citywide vote, beginning in 2023.

Earlier this year, she fueled speculation about whether she will ever deliver on that pivotal campaign promise by telling the New York Times CPS would never have opened without mayoral control.

The Senate bill would create a 21-member board in January 2025, initially split between 11 mayoral appointees including the board president and 10 elected members.

The first elected members would run in the November 2024 general election for four-year terms. Though the mayor would continue picking the board president, City Council confirmation would become necessary. The mayor currently appoints a seven-member board, including the president, without an approval process.

The seats of the board president and the 10 appointees would become elected ones in January 2027 through a November 2026 election. Those members would also serve four-year terms.

The city would be divided into 10 districts for the 2024 school board elections and 20 districts for the 2026 ballot. That map would need to be drawn by February 2022.

All elected board members would run in a particular district other than the board president, who would run at large.

After one teachers strike and the threat of another before schools were finally reopened after the pandemic, the mayors office has been particularly interested in preventing Chicago Teachers Union leaders from running for school board seats. Lightfoot conspicuously did not mention that objection.

The Senate voted 36 to 15 to advance the bill, which must head back to the House where it needs a three-fifths majority to take effect within the next year. Assuming all 118 House members vote on the measure, it would require 71 votes to pass.

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Elected CPS board supposed to be about democracy, but thats not what happened in Springfield, Mayor Ligh - Chicago Sun-Times

The threat to our democracy is still here and its real.

Just hear the words of former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who spoke over Memorial Day Weekend, as we honored our military heroes who gave their lives to defend our country that a Myanmar-style coup should happen here.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Photo was taken during a summer 2020 protest, by Fred Moon for Unsplash.

A former high-ranking former government official (despite pleading guilty to lying to the FBI about the Russia investigation, and being pardoned by Donald Trump at the end of his presidency) appears to have called for the overthrow of the government.

Flynn was answering a question at a Dallas event titled For God and Country Patriot Roundup from a man who identified himself as a Marine, who asked why what happened in Myanmar cant happen here?

Flynn responded No reason. I mean it should happen here. No reason. Thats right.

The Myanmar military staged a deadly coup in February that overthrew the democratically-elected government and has since used violent means to suppress protest and democratic institutions.

Let that sink in for a moment.

Flynn also reiterated the false claim that Trump won the 2020 election at the session, which included many QAnon followers and those who believe and repeat The Big Lie.

While the Democratic response will be forceful and outraged, it wont change what was said by Flynn, which will undoubtedly inspire the Big Lie proponents and their minions, perhaps to more violence just as we saw at the Capitol almost five months ago on Jan. 6.

Insurrectionists at the Jan. 6 Capitol attack, dressed in combat gear. Photo by Colin Lloyd for Unsplash.

One of the other members of the Trump brigade, scorned lawyer Sidney Powell, who has represented Flynn in the past, as well as Trump in his imaginary quest to prove he didnt lose the election, also spoke at the Dallas event. Her message; that the ex-president should simply be reinstated. She added that A new inauguration day is set. Really?

Let that sink in for a moment.

Sure, Powell was ridiculed for her court argument that she could not be held accountable for any fraudulent claims because no one in their right mind would believe her (not joking), but true to character, she defended Flynns comments that some call seditious as being grossly distorted by the media.

No the threat to our democracy is still here, a clear and present danger.

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Our Voice: The Threat to our Democracy - by Daniel Smith - The Ark Valley Voice

Sen. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) on Tuesday reiterated her support for the Senate filibuster despite growing pressure to eliminate the chambers longstanding supermajority requirement for passing legislation.

It is a tool that protects the democracy of our nation. Rather than allowing our country to ricochet wildly every two to four years back and forth between policies, the idea of the filibuster was created by those who came before to create comity and to encourage bipartisanship and work together, Sinema told reporters at an event with Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) in Tucson, according to The Arizona Republic.

To those who say that we must make a choice between the filibuster and X, I say, this is a false choice, Sinema added.

Sinema is among several Democrats in the Senate who have said this year that they oppose changing rules to make it easier to pass legislation in the Senate. Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia is equally adamant about keeping the filibuster, vowing that he will never vote to get rid of it.

Last week, Republicans filibustered legislation establishing a bipartisan, independent commission to investigate the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Fifty-four senators voted to advance the bill including six Republicans but it failed to move forward because 60 votes were required to do so.

More legislation is expected to face a GOP filibuster after Congress returns to Washington from recess next week. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has announced the chamber will be taking up legislation dealing with expanding gun background checks, LGBTQ rights and voting rights all issues that sharply divide the two parties.

The end of the month will bring the biggest test for the filibuster yet when Democrats attempt to bring the For the People Act, their big voting and election ethics overhaul bill, to the floor. Sinema has co-sponsored the legislation, but Manchin opposes it as currently written. Without his support, Democrats may not be able to advance it to the floor for a vote on passage.

The reality is that when you have a system that is not working effectively and I would think that most would agree that the Senate is not a particularly well-oiled machine, right?The way to fix that is to fix your behavior, not to eliminate the rules or change the rules, but to change the behavior, Sinema argued on Tuesday.

President Joe Biden on Tuesday expressed frustration with commentators who say he isnt doing enough to get his agenda through Congress. Speaking at an event in Tulsa, Biden noted that Democrats control extremely tight majorities in both chambers, limiting how much they can do without total unanimity.

Bidencalled out Manchin and Sinema indirectlyby noting there are two members of the Senate who vote more with my Republican friends on certain issues.

June should be a month of action on Capitol Hill, Biden said at the event, urging Congress to protect voting rights amid a nationwide push by Republicans in state legislatures to limit access to the ballot.

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Democrat Kyrsten Sinema Says The Filibuster 'Protects The Democracy Of Our Nation' - HuffPost

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Conservative activists across America are pushing efforts to review the 2020 vote more than six months after the election, a move experts say is a dangerous attempt to continue to sow doubt about the results of the 2020 election that strikes at the heart of Americas democratic process.

Encouraged by an ongoing haphazard review of 2.1m ballots in Arizona, activists are pushing to review votes or voting equipment in California, Georgia, Michigan, and New Hampshire.

Meanwhile, in Wisconsin, the powerful speaker of the state house of representatives recently hired ex-law enforcement officers, including one with a history of supporting Republicans, to spend the next three months investigating claims of fraud. At least one of the officers hired has a history of supporting GOP claims. The announcement also came after state officials announced they found just 27 cases of potential fraud in 2020 out of 3.3m votes cast.

The reviews are not going to change the 2020 election results or find widespread fraud, which is exceedingly rare. Nonetheless, the conservative activists behind the effort many of whom have little election experience have championed the reviews as an attempt to assuage concerns the 2020 election was stolen. If the probes dont turn up anything, they will only serve to increase confidence in elections, proponents say.

But experts see something much more dangerous happening. Continuing to review elections, especially after a result has been finalized, will allow conspiracy theories to fester and undercut the authority of legitimately elected officials, they say. Once election results are certified by state officials, they have long been considered final and it is unprecedented to continue to probe results months after an official is sworn in. Its an issue that gets at the heart of Americas electoral system if Americans no longer have faith their officials are legitimately elected, they worry, the country is heading down an extremely dangerous path.

It is either a witting or unwitting effort to handcuff democratic self-governance, said David Becker, the executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research.

The efforts also come at the same moment that Republican legislatures around the country are pushing new restrictions to restrict voting access. Unable to point to evidence of significant fraud, Republican lawmakers have frequently said that new restrictions are needed to restore confidence in elections.

In New Hampshire, activists have tried to co-opt an audit in the 15,000 person town of Windham to try and resolve a legitimate discrepancy in vote totals for a state representative race. They unsuccessfully tried to pressure officials there to drop experienced auditors in favor of Jovan Pulitzer, a conspiracy theorist reportedly involved in the Arizona recount who has become a kind of celebrity among those who believe the election was stolen. Even though the experienced auditors have found no evidence of wrongdoing, activists have continued to float baseless theories of wrongdoing in a Telegram channel following audits.

Nothing today is showing evidence of fraud. Nothing today is showing evidence of digital manipulation of the machines, Harri Hursti, an election expert and one of the auditors, said this week, according to WMUR. Its amazing how much disinformation and dishonest reporting has been spreading.

Activists are also pressuring officials in Cheboygan county, Michigan to let an attorney affiliated with Sidney Powell, a Trump ally who brought baseless lawsuits after the election, conduct an audit of election equipment. The chair of the board of commissioners told the Detroit News he could not recall a more contentious issue debated before the board in more than two decades.

The Michigan efforts prompted a letter from the states top election official, who warned the clerks in Cheboygan and Antrim county another hotbed of conspiracy theories that boards didnt have authority to order audits and not to turn over election equipment to unaccredited outside firms, the Washington Post reported. Michigan conducted more than 250 audits after the 2020 race that affirmed the results.

Dominion voting systems, which sold equipment to the state, also warned that counties may not be able to use machines in future elections if they turned them over to uncertified auditors.

We have every reason to want transparency, Jocelyn Benson, the states top election official, said in an interview. But thats not what this is. This is about an effort, as has been proved time and time again by the actions of these individuals, in Arizona and elsewhere, this is an effort to actually spread falsehoods and misinformation under the guise of transparency.

San Luis Obispo county in the central coast of California has been another target for calls for an audit. During a meeting earlier this month, officials played hours of recorded messages calling for an audit, including one asking whether Tommy Gong, the countys clerk and recorder, was a member of the communist party.

Activists are also targeting Fulton county, Georgia, another place that was at the center of Trumps baseless election attacks last year. Earlier in May, a local judge said that an group led by Garland Favorito, who has reportedly pushed conspiracy theories about 9/11 and the JFK assassination, could inspect absentee ballots, though in a key break from the Arizona review, the judge made it clear that the actual ballots would have to remain in county officials custody. Georgia has already manually recounted all of the ballots in the state, which confirmed Joe Bidens win over Trump last year.

Even in Arizona, the crown jewel of the audit movement, activists may have plans to do even more auditing after the current review of 2.1m ballots wraps up. Republicans are finalizing a plan to use untested software to analyze images of ballots, the Arizona Republic reported Friday.

Rarely do the losers believe the they have lost, but historically those who fell short graciously concede once all legal channels are exhausted, said Tammy Patrick, a former election official in Maricopa county who now serves as a senior adviser at the Democracy Fund.

The proliferation of these actions undermine and erode the very foundation of election integrity and our adversaries need only sit back and watch as we chip away at our democratic norms. We should be telling the American voter the truth the election had integrity, real audits and recounts were done, court challenges heard.

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Push to review 2020 votes across US an effort to handcuff democracy - The Guardian

Pro-democracy protesters take part in a Thanksgiving Day rally at Edinburgh Place on Nov. 28, 2019 in Hong Kong. Chris McGrath/Getty Images hide caption

Pro-democracy protesters take part in a Thanksgiving Day rally at Edinburgh Place on Nov. 28, 2019 in Hong Kong.

All over the world, democratic institutions are under threat. The United States isn't just part of that trend it may also be one of the causes. Former Obama administration foreign policy adviser Ben Rhodes examines why in a new book called After the Fall: Being American in the World We've Made.

In participating regions, you'll also hear a local news segment that will help you make sense of what's going on in your community.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

This episode was produced by Brent Baughman, Brianna Scott, Noah Caldwell and Lee Hale. It was edited by Sami Yenigun with help from Wynne Davis. Our executive producer is Cara Tallo.

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Threats To Democracy Are Growing Around the World And The U.S. May Be One Of Them : Consider This from NPR - NPR