Lincoln Park High School, 1981

For the record, my official stance on students skipping school to participate in political protest is no, no, no!

They should spend every waking minute of every day dutifully doing whatever it is that they’re told to do so that they can go on to become something really important—like mayor or school board member. In which case they can randomly close schools, fire teachers, and impose harebrained curriculum on unsuspecting students.

Like that wall-to-wall IB nonsense Mayor Emanuel’s shoving down everyone’s throat.

Wait—that didn’t come out right. What I meant to say is . . .

I know columnists are supposed to editorialize against students walking out of school for any reason, including political protests.

But I find something irresistibly noble about last week’s protest at Lincoln Park High School, where roughly 300 students walked out to support the eight teachers Mayor Emanuel and the local principal seem determined to fire.

The kids were gone for only a half hour or so. They made some speeches and went back to class. So think of it like a pep rally—in support of their teachers.

And what’s wrong with that?