Rahm Emanuel took aim at his own party this week, warning Democrats that they’ve lost focus on education and must return to the fundamentals if they hope to regain parents’ trust.

"We’ve spent the past five years debating pronouns without noticing that too many students can’t tell you what a pronoun is," the former Chicago Democratic mayor and U.S. ambassador to Japan wrote in a Wall Street Journal op-ed on Monday.

"The U.S. has been more focused on whether a school is named for Abraham Lincoln than whether students can tell you why he is an American giant. We’ve become so obsessed with bathroom access that we’ve ignored classroom excellence.

"America has lost the plot. Democrats need to refocus on the fundamentals in the elementary years — when it comes to high school, we need to be pursuing fundamental reform."

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Emanuel’s comments followed the September release of the Nation’s Report Card, which showed further declines in reading and math scores.

At the same time, Emanuel noted Democrats’ refusal to reopen schools during the COVID-19 pandemic "deservedly" damaged their reputation, helping flip what was once a 14-point advantage on education into an edge for Republicans.

"That’s in part because we [Democrats] made the grave error of refusing to reopen schools during the pandemic, even when the evidence suggested it was safe. Washington may not be noticing what’s happening in our schools, but parents and educators are," he wrote.

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He added that prolonged school closures in blue states sent families a clear message about Democratic "leadership — or lack thereof."

On the flipside, Emanuel credited some southern states for bucking the trend of decline.

He pointed to Mississippi as a model. The state climbed from 49th in 2013 to ninth today by dropping "whole language" reading instruction — which teaches kids to recognize words by sight or context — and replacing it with more phonics-based "science of reading" methods. 

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The state paired that shift with tutoring, summer literacy camps, and mandatory retention for third-graders still unable to read.

Emanuel also pointed to the example he set during his time as mayor of the Windy City, requiring every high school graduate to provide an acceptance letter from a four-year university, a community college, the military or a vocational program. His initiatives also enabled students to earn college credits while still in high school and allowed anyone with a B average to attend Chicago's community colleges for free.

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"These reforms should be the meat and potatoes of Democrats’ education agenda. They’ll produce results, but they’ll also resonate with parents," he wrote.

"The kitchen-table issues that Democrats focus on involve more than paying bills. Families talk about what’s happening at their neighborhood school, what students are and aren’t learning, who their children consider friends, and what TikTok is doing to their kids’ minds."

For Bijan Robinson, his on-field impact is only half of the story he wants to tell about himself.

After starring at the University of Texas at Austin, Robinson was the eighth overall pick in the 2023 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons.

He rushed for more than 1,400 yards in his breakout campaign last season. But when he’s not leading the Falcons’ offense, he’s doing what he can to make an impact in his local community.

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The star running back partnered with Auntie Anne’s to share the joy of reading with the launch of Knead & Read, a nationwide literacy program. Parents or teachers help students set a reading goal, and kids can track their progress using a special Knead & Read bookmark available for download online or at their local Auntie Anne’s store. They are then able to get a free pretzel.

"It’s something that we celebrate, and it’s a big achievement for kids and teenagers and families. Everybody obviously loves Auntie Anne’s, so they get to enjoy that as well. It’s super cool, and seeing kids’ faces, it’s pretty amazing," Robinson told Fox News Digital in a recent interview.

"On the field, I’ve been blessed, and God gave me a gift on the field so I can do stuff like this off the field. It’s important to perform for my team, but when I have opportunities like this, to partner with Auntie Anne’s, it’s bigger than football. We get to incorporate things like reading and things that people might not know too much off, it makes it that much more special. I’m in the city, in Atlanta, and a lot of these kids don’t have these kind of resources, they might not see their favorite player or see Auntie Anne’s in a different light. It’s so much more important what we’re doing off the field, just to change people’s lives daily and interact with them and be a part of it." 

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Robinson can make those same kids very happy by helping the Falcons reach their first postseason since the 2017 season. Atlanta is currently 2-2 with an up-and-down campaign so far.

In Week 1, kicking woes contributed to a 23-20 loss. They then handily took care of the Vikings before a devastating 30-0 loss to the Carolina Panthers. But they got back on track with a 34-27 win this past weekend against the Jayden Daniels-less Washington Commanders.

The Falcons had a chance to clinch a playoff spot last year but ended with an 8-9 record after three straight seasons of going 7-10. But after helping out the local community, Robinson has his eyes set on bringing the Falcons back to where that same community wants its favorite team.

"We just got to continue to play with an edge, take everything one week at a time, and, you know, make sure every game is a championship game for us, because it is," Robinson said. "Every game is that important. We can’t look ahead to nobody, we gotta focus on who we’re focusing on that week and put as much heart and effort into that week that we’re playing. If we do things the right way and stay consistent and take it one game at a time, I feel like we’re gonna be hard to stop. That’s the biggest thing that we have to do in order to achieve the goal that we want to achieve."

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