Lori Lightfoot under investigation over campaign email to Chicago teachers
Rachel Schilke
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The Chicago Public Schools inspector general has opened an investigation into the emails sent by Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s campaign to teachers asking for students to volunteer for her second-term campaign.
Lightfoot’s deputy campaign manager sent an email to teachers asking to share the externship “opportunity” with students, in which students would work 12 hours per week in exchange for school credit to “help Mayor Lightfoot win this spring.”
“As the race heats up, we’re looking to enrich our office through what we call our externship program,” according to the email obtained by WTTW News. “Could you please share this opportunity with your students?”
Due to the waves of criticism following the revelation, the CPS inspector general is launching an investigation.
“CPS OIG has opened an investigation into this matter, and we are currently gathering information to determine which, if any, policies have been violated,” the inspector general office said in a statement to the Washington Examiner.
Lightfoot’s decision has been called “unethical” by the Chicago Teachers Union, saying that CTU members who decline to volunteer or encourage their students to do so may face retaliation.
LORI LIGHTFOOT’S CAMPAIGN ASKS TEACHERS TO GET STUDENTS TO VOLUNTEER: REPORT
“This is the same Mayor who promised to clean up corruption and make good ethics an anchor in her administration,” the union wrote in a statement. “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.”
A spokesperson from the Chicago mayor’s campaign sent out three statements in response to the waves of criticism to WTTW News. The initial statement read that the externship was geared toward providing young people with the opportunity to learn about civic engagement and engage with the campaign.
In a second statement, Lightfoot’s campaign declared it would “cease contact with CPS employees” out of an “abundance of caution.”
Finally, a third statement read, “All [Lightfoot for Chicago] campaign staff have been reminded about the solid wall that must exist between campaign and official activities and that contacts with any city of Chicago, or other sister agency employees, including CPS employees, even through publicly available sources is off limits. Period.”
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The Washington Examiner reached out to the inspector general’s office for comment.