Does the IL 9th CD have an appetite for extremist views? скачать в хорошем качестве

Does the IL 9th CD have an appetite for extremist views?

Bushra Amiwala, candidate running for Congress in the Illinois 9th Congressional District Democratic Primary, in her Public Affairs interview with host Jeff Berkowitz, discusses the open-seat race to replace long-time Congresswoman Jan Schakowsky and debates sharply with Berkowitz on education outcomes, immigration enforcement, and the role of federal policy in addressing local quality-of-life issues. Berkowitz frames the contest as a crowded primary field and emphasizes the importance of message, organization, and money (“MOM”) as the baseline for credibility, while also comparing Amiwala’s positioning to other top-tier candidates in the race. A central portion of the interview focuses on public education and student performance. Berkowitz presses Amiwala—who serves on a local school board (District 73.5) and previously worked at Google—on literacy and math proficiency rates, highlighting statewide and national reading averages that hover around the low-40% range. Amiwala argues the issue is a national epidemic intensified by post-COVID learning disruption and technology-driven attention challenges, and she pushes back on what she sees as “cherry picking” Chicago data when national outcomes are similarly poor. Amiwala says she has raised public education as a priority in candidate forums and supports increasing federal funding to reduce the reliance on property taxes for school budgets. Berkowitz challenges the “more funding” approach by citing high per-student spending in Chicago and arguing the problem is not primarily underfunding but performance, accountability, and incentives. The two debate competition and school choice: Berkowitz advocates a “money follows the child” model and argues private, parochial, and scholarship-style options have shown stronger outcomes—even for similar socioeconomic populations—while Amiwala argues public taxpayer dollars should fund public schools and says reading outcomes are not solved by competition alone. She points to selective enrollment and testing-based options within CPS as a form of choice, and she emphasizes that household income, family structure, and socioeconomic context must be layered into any honest analysis of achievement gaps and outcomes. The interview then shifts to immigration and enforcement. Amiwala strongly supports abolishing ICE, describing ICE as an institution created post-9/11 that she believes has developed a discriminatory agenda and operates in ways that harm communities of color. She cites deaths occurring in ICE custody and argues that enforcement actions and detention practices have lacked meaningful accountability. Berkowitz challenges her framing by pressing on the realities of large-scale migration, vetting, criminal history screening, and public safety concerns—arguing for a focus on identifying and detaining individuals with serious criminal backgrounds through cooperation with local custody systems rather than broad street-level operations. Amiwala responds by distinguishing ICE from Customs and Border Protection (CBP) and argues that the deeper structural problem is the privatization of detention and incarceration, claiming profit incentives distort enforcement and create perverse outcomes. Berkowitz pushes back on whether her claims imply systemic corruption across police, prosecution, and courts, and asks whether her views represent ideological extremes. Amiwala maintains that private detention and prison incentives are a root cause, and she frames abolition as necessary because ICE, as currently structured, is beyond repair. The interview concludes with both Berkowitz and Amiwala agreeing that—even when heated—this kind of direct policy debate is what the IL-9 race should be about, and Amiwala expresses willingness to return for further discussion as the March 17 primary approaches. Hashtags: #IL9thCDDemPrimary, #BushraAmiwala, #PublicAffairsTV, #PublicAffairswithJeffBerkowitz, #JeffBerkowitz, #JanSchakowsky, #Education, #Literacy, #MathProficiency, #AchievementGap, #SchoolFunding, #PropertyTaxes, #PublicSchools, #SchoolChoice, #PrivateSchools, #SelectiveEnrollment, #COVIDLearningLoss, #Immigration, #AbolishICE, #ICE, #CBP, #Detention, #PrivatePrisons, #SanctuaryCities, #PublicPolicyDebate, #Chicago, #Skokie, #Evanston, #Wilmette, #School vouchers, #Sanctuarycitychicago, #sanctuarystateIL, #MayorDanielbiss, #SenatorLauraFine, #Katabughazaleh,#PhilAndrew, #Bruceleon, #SenatorMikeSimmons, #Jewishdayschools, #15KOrthodoxJewsinIL9thCD, FreeMarketeconomics