Emanuel Touts Mississippi Education
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Rahm Emanuel addresses the audience during a Town Hall on the Future of Public Education Wednesday night at the Hendricks Building in Water Valley, where he spoke about Mississippi’s literacy gains, workforce preparation and the impact of technology on students.
WATER VALLEY — Potential 2028 presidential candidate Rahm Emanuel told a packed room in Water Valley Wednesday night that Mississippi’s recent gains in literacy offer one of the most important education lessons in the country, and one he believes national leaders are failing to confront with urgency.
Emanuel, the former Chicago mayor, U.S. congressman, White House chief of staff and U.S. ambassador to Japan, spoke for more than an hour during a Town Hall on public education at the Hendricks Building, fielding questions on public schools, workforce training, social media, community resources and education funding.
The event, originally scheduled for Thursday night, was moved to Wednesday, Jan. 7, to avoid a conflict with the University of Mississippi’s Fiesta Bowl appearance.
Emanuel’s visit came amid renewed national concern over declining test scores and continued attention on what has become known as the “Mississippi Miracle,” the state’s decade-long improvement in early literacy outcomes.
“We are a nation at risk today,” Emanuel told the crowd. “We are at a 30-year low in reading scores. I think we’re in a serious world of hurt nationally when it comes to education.”
“Under Ronald Reagan, we confronted the issue. President George H.W. Bush and President Clinton advanced public school choice and teacher excellence. President George W. Bush brought No Child Left Behind, and President Obama followed with Race to the Top,” Emanuel said. “Incrementally, step by step, year over year, we made progress as a country. Then it just fell off. Today, we’re at a 30-year low in reading and math scores,” Emanuel reiterated.
Emanuel said Mississippi stands out for returning to foundational literacy instruction, particularly phonics, while investing in teacher training and accountability.
“What Mississippi has shown is that if you do the right things, you don’t just fix public education, you succeed at it,” he said. “That matters far beyond this state.”
He noted that other Southern states, including Tennessee, Louisiana and Alabama, have adopted similar approaches with measurable gains, reinforcing his view that the solution does not require reinvention but replication.
“This is not turning around in a year,” Emanuel said. “It takes a lot of work.”
Responding to questions about homeschooling and school choice, Emanuel said he believes public education remains essential because of scale.
“I don’t like the phrase ‘homeschooling,’ because every child is homeschooled,” he said. “The most important education a child receives happens at home, reading, conversation, expectations.”
He pointed to the nation’s experience during World War II as evidence of the value of universal public education.
“The most educated armed forces in the world belonged to the United States,” Emanuel said. “That wasn’t an accident. It was the result of decades of investment in public education.”
While acknowledging alternatives such as vouchers and school choice, Emanuel said abandoning public education would make it impossible to prepare the workforce at the scale required.
Several questions focused on preparing students for life after high school and the growing demand for skilled labor.
“The rules of the 21st century are simple,” he said. “You have to start earlier and you have to go longer.”
As mayor of Chicago, Emanuel said students were required to show a post-graduation plan, college, community college, vocational training, military service or apprenticeships, before receiving a diploma.
“I don’t care which path you choose,” he said. “I just want to know where you’re walking to.”
He described efforts in Chicago to partner with trade unions and training programs for electricians, carpenters, pipefitters and other skilled professions, noting that many six-figure jobs remain unfilled nationwide.
“That’s not China’s fault,” Emanuel said. “That’s on us.”
Emanuel also addressed youth mental health and the role of technology, describing social media as a growing driver of anxiety, depression and other challenges facing young people.
“There’s a mental health piece to this,” Emanuel said. “I am for banning any child under age of 16 from getting a social media account. Prohibit it all the time.”
Emanuel acknowledged that such restrictions would be unpopular with children but said the long-term consequences of inaction are more serious.
“I understand that at nine years old you don’t like it,” he said.
He compared the social media industry’s targeting of young users to the tobacco industry’s past marketing practices, citing a recent Washington Post report.
“Instagram decided a year ago that they were going to target teens,” Emanuel said. “This is exactly what the tobacco companies did.”
Emanuel said Chicago enacted aggressive tobacco regulations during his tenure as mayor, helping reduce teen smoking rates from more than 30 percent to the single digits, including banning tobacco sales within 500 feet of school doors and regulating alternatives to cigarettes.
“They’re worse than tobacco,” Emanuel said of platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.
Emanuel said he has seen firsthand how schools that restrict phone use experience changes in student behavior.
“Every school I’ve seen that has taken telephones out of the classroom, you see kids’ attention span increase,” he said. “You see kids focused. You see kids checking books out of the library. You hear laughter again.”
He said the effects of unchecked screen use extend beyond the classroom.
“This is destroying our kids’ youth,” Emanuel said. “And it’s actually leading to suicide, mental health problems and other challenges.”
Emanuel noted that other countries are beginning to take similar steps.
“Australia’s doing it,” he said. “France is now looking at it. Spain is now looking at it.”
He said the issue ultimately comes down to whether adults are willing to challenge the influence of technology companies.
“It’s between you, as adults, and that algorithm,” Emanuel said. “And if you’re honest with yourself, that algorithm is winning right now. That algorithm is beating you.”
Emanuel said the most common conflict between parents and children now centers on phones.
“The leading cause of a fight between a mother or father and a child is that telephone,” he said. “If you don’t have their attention.”
Emanuel argued that meaningful reform is possible but requires parents and citizens to push past political cynicism.
“A president will have to leave. A congressman, a senator or a governor will change,” he said. “The real question is whether citizens say, ‘Enough.’”
Audience members also raised concerns about developmental disabilities, family instability, childcare and long-term outcomes.
Emanuel acknowledged the complexity of those challenges and said targeted investment, paired with clear priorities, is essential.
“Money matters,” he said, “but money without focus and accountability won’t get results.”
He praised Mississippi’s emphasis on literacy fundamentals and teacher support, saying the state’s progress demonstrates that improvement is not driven by funding alone, but by how resources are used.
“Mississippi showed that the answer to the problem or the challenge is not just money,” Emanuel said.
Emanuel closed by thanking residents for their turnout and engagement, saying it contradicted the notion that Americans no longer care about education.
“We can’t raise the white flag,” Emanuel said. “We don’t have another generation to waste.”
