“I believe Rahm Emanuel referred to the Chicago Teachers Union as a socialist conspiracy,” Johnson said Wednesday. “Did I get the words? But little did he know there was no conspiracy. We were just doing it.”

Doing socialism, in other words. Johnson made these remarks at an event promoting American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten’s new book, “Why Fascists Fear Teachers.” Johnson served as moderator.

It pays to be thoughtful in curating what events you appear at, let alone which ones you get on stage for, when you’re in such a high-profile job as mayor of Chicago. Johnson chose this one, and that says a lot. So, obviously, do his words, which show not only his enduring allegiance to the union, but affirms publicly — and very candidly — the worldview that leadership is pushing.

As the room rose to applaud, CTU President Stacy Davis Gates joked that she wished the mayor would hurry up — prompting Johnson to reply, “That’s the first time Stacy’s ever taken a directive from me.”

There’s often a little bit of truth in a good joke.

Once again, Johnson has made clear what Chicago suspected all along — that his administration isn’t merely allied with the Chicago Teachers Union, it is one and the same, even when it is supposed to be on the other side of the negotiating table. And when it comes to policy, when the union talks, City Hall acts.

On education, there’s an emphasis on new staffing, less accountability and resistance to charter expansion, all of which align with the CTU agenda. Johnson consistently backs union-friendly contracts and rhetoric even when the city’s finances strain to afford them. Members appointed by Johnson to the Board of Education have echoed CTU priorities almost verbatim. The checks and balances that once separated educators from policymakers have collapsed. That union didn’t just help elect Johnson with an infusion of grassroots and millions of dollars in campaign support — it built his political identity. And it expects a return on investment.

We’re all for Johnson being candid. Might as well be honest. But it hardly gives us hope that Johnson might moderate his socialist views in favor of the pro-growth agenda Chicago so badly needs to raise its hopes or merely to broaden his perspective as mayor.

This matters now, of course, because the mayor’s self-definition isn’t about the past — it’s a declaration of how Chicago is being run today: not by consensus, but by a single, ideologically driven machine.

We hope for better.

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