BOLD MOVE

Chicago Mayor’s ‘Unethical’ Plea for Campaign Volunteers Stuns Teachers

Students could score “class credit” if they joined Lori Lightfoot in her efforts to win a second term.

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s campaign apparently violated her own ethics policy after emailing Chicago Public Schools teachers Wednesday, urging them to convince students to earn class credit and volunteer for her upcoming re-election campaign. Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates criticized the email as “unethical” in an interview with WTTW News. It is unknown how many people received the message. A Lightfoot spokesperson told WTTW News the expectation was “to provide young people with the opportunity to engage with our campaign” and “done using publicly available contact information.” Chicago Public Schools told WTTW News that “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.” In a follow-up statement, Lightfoot’s campaign appeared to backtrack: “All ... 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.”