Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot promised “a city reborn” after eight miserable years of Rahm Emanuel. But the people who make that city’s schools run are disappointed to find so little difference from the bad old days of Mayor 1 Percent.

With a contract showdown looming this fall, Chicago teachers and education workers, along with activists and organizations who support their vision of the schools Chicago students and teachers deserve, are getting ready for a fight — by turning to the ingredients that won before: solidarity, struggle, and strikes.

As teachers returned to the classrooms in late August to prepare for the school year, the latest blast from the past was an old-fashioned campaign of red-baiting. The Chicago Tribune led the way with a front-page article about three teachers and a CTU staffer who toured Venezuela in July — which falsely implied the union sponsored and paid for the trip. A few days later, a Wall Street Journal editorial added a swipe at CTU president Jesse Sharkey, finding him guilty of the “crime” of belonging to a socialist organization.