Mayor Rahm gets ready for his closings close-up.

As anyone who attends, works in, or sends their children to a public school can tell you, there are two worlds when it comes to public education in Chicago.

There’s the world of Mayor Emanuel’s propaganda machine—a fantasy created by clever publicists.

And the real world that parents, students, teachers, and principals have to live in.

In the fantasy world created by the publicists, the mayor’s a miracle worker who’s working day and night on behalf of Chicago’s children. Oh, thank you all-powerful Bwana.

In the real world, the mayor’s slashing school funding so he can spend the money on really whacked-out shit, like that South Loop property deal involving DePaul.

Sometimes the two worlds collide and the mayor’s talking heads—like CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett—get their scripted lines all mixed up.