NEWS RELEASE

For Immediate Release                                              Contact: Stephanie Gadlin@312-329-6250

December 4, 2014                                                                          StephanieGadlin@ctulocal1.com

Elected Representative School Board Campaign Wins Ballot Spot in 38 Wards for 2015 Municipal Election

CHICAGO—The Elected Representative School Board (ERSB) referendum will appear on the ballot in 38 wards in the February 24, 2015 Municipal General Election, the result of a successful campaign by the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), Grassroots Education Movement, United Working Families, Grassroots Illinois Action, SEIU HCii and scores of volunteers throughout the city of Chicago. There were no objections filed to challenge the approximately 66,000 signatures on the ERSB petitions, which will appear on ballots in all of Chicago’s wards except for 2, 9, 11, 13, 18, 23, 39, 41, 42, 43, 44 and 48.

“This was a tremendous effort, and a shared achievement for the hundreds of petitioners and thousands of signees who believe in the need for an elected school board,” said CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey.

The Chicago Public Schools district is the only school district in the entire state of Illinois where citizens have always been denied the basic right to vote for their school board officials. The CTU and many families and education activists find it incomprehensible that Chicago’s schools lack parent and community voice and leadership at the highest level. School policy in Chicago is currently only accountable to Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his handpicked Chicago Board of Education, which has led to 50 school closings in 2013 and nearly 7,500 teacher and education support personnel layoffs since the mayor took office in 2011.

The mayor and his rubber stamp alderman have consistently blocked the ERSB referendum from the ballot, and Chicago Forward, a super PAC supporting the mayor and his city council allies, has explicitly stated that in order to receive millions for the upcoming 2015 election, candidates must renounce their support for an ERSB.

A recent CTU poll showed that 65 percent of Chicagoans believe the city should have an elected school board, while only 28 percent oppose, proving that if given the opportunity for a vote and a voice, the majority of Chicagoans will choose to have this right. While the ballot question is advisory, a strong vote for an elected school board will send a sharp signal to Springfield, where legislators ultimately decide the issue.

The CTU thanks its allies and the hundreds of supporters whose efforts helped give Chicagoans a voice in nearly every ward throughout the city, including a mass Election Day canvass on Nov. 4, 2014, where there were more than 300 volunteers and CTU members in more than 40 Chicago wards. The ERSB ballot referendum is the result of a months-long effort where petitioners built power door to door and among community organizations, championing initiatives that will create a Chicago that works for all of its citizens as the city that our students deserve.

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The Chicago Teachers Union represents 30,000 teachers and educational support personnel working in the Chicago Public Schools, and by extension, the more than 400,000 students and families they serve.  The CTU is an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Federation of Teachers and is the third largest teachers local in the United States and the largest local union in Illinois.  For more information please visit CTU’s website at www.ctunet.com.