AFT President on Chicago Mayor’s Unethical Request to Educators

“Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s decision to solicit teachers for student volunteers for her mayoral campaign demonstrates a real lapse of judgement. It’s not the civic engagement that was the problem or the reward of credits—it’s that students should have the opportunity to volunteer on campaigns of their choosing and receive class credit regardless of who they are campaigning for. 

“As to teachers, the irony is that the mayor has shown them only disdain. It’s one of the reasons why members of the Chicago Teachers Union and the Cook County College Teachers Union are standing with Commissioner Brandon Johnson. Johnson would be a mayor for all Chicagoans. He values educators, not because they can help him win an election but because he values our contributions, and he knows how to move public schools forward.”