Courtesy of Chicago Teachers Union

The Chicago Teachers Union issued the following statement today in the wake of the IFT’s endorsement in the Illinois gubernatorial race. The statement can be attributed to CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey. We respect the vote of our partner Locals in the Illinois Federation of Teachers to make an endorsement in the race for governor of our state. The members of the Chicago Teachers Union have our own internal independent democratic process for making political endorsements, and our members will make a decision on behalf of the CTU in the coming weeks on candidates for governor, Attorney General and other state and local races. As Chicago confronts another planned round of devastating school closures and disinvestment, our members must lead the process to determine which candidates might best offer transformative strategies to address the Great Depression-era levels of unemployment, neglect and persistent violence that plague our communities. Our nation, state and city face critical questions on both the direction in which government is moving and the leadership that should steward that process. We want to ensure that our membership is able to express their will and drive the effort to determine which candidates the CTU should support as part of that process.