Lori Lightfoot’s campaign asks teachers to get students to volunteer: Report
Jack Birle
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Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot‘s reelection campaign reportedly asked teachers in Chicago Public Schools to get their students to volunteer to help secure the mayor a second term.
The email, from Lightfoot’s deputy campaign manager, encouraged teachers to share the externship “opportunity” with students to “help Mayor Lightfoot win this spring.”
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“As the race heats up, we’re looking to enrich our office through what we call our externship program. Could you please share this opportunity with your students,” the email said.
The Chicago Teachers Union blasted Lightfoot’s request in a statement Wednesday, saying the request was “unethical.”
“This is unethical and wrong on so many levels — not least of which is our concern that CTU members who decline to volunteer for the mayor’s campaign or encourage their students to do so could face retaliation. This is the same Mayor who promised to clean up corruption and make good ethics an anchor in her administration. This latest scheme shows she’s a rank hypocrite on ethics issues — including her attempt to use our schools and students as her campaign tools,” the union said.
Lightfoot’s relationship with local teachers unions has been frosty, with her office advocating teachers to return to in-person learning in a tense standoff early last year.
Chicago Public Schools told the Washington Examiner that the district “does not coordinate with any political candidates or campaign” as a matter of its policy.
“As a rule, the District does not coordinate with any political candidates or campaigns. It has not done so to date and will not be doing so,” a CPS spokesperson said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
The Chicago mayoral race is scheduled for Feb. 28, with a runoff election scheduled for April 4 if no candidate receives more than 50% in the first round.