NEWS RELEASE

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

November 6, 2014                                                                               StephanieGadlin@ctulocal1.com

Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates Endorses

Jesus “Chuy” Garcia for Mayor of Chicago

Early Endorsement set to galvanize widespread support for the well-known community organizer, elected official and social justice champion

CHICAGO –The Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates (HOD) voted overwhelmingly to endorse Cook County Commissioner Jesus ‘Chuy’ Garcia in his bid to unseat Mayor Rahm Emanuel in the upcoming municipal election. The endorsement came Wednesday, Nov. 5^th during the evening HOD monthly session where nearly 600 delegates met to discuss union business, analyze the midterm election and strategize on the upcoming mayor’s race. It also came just days after CTU President Karen GJ Lewis offered her personal endorsement of Garcia after deciding not to mount a campaign due to sudden illness.

Educators, parents, African-American and Latino voters are even more motivated to defeat Emanuel now that his best friend, the anti-labor venture capitalist Bruce Rauner, will soon be sworn in as Illinois’ next governor. Many educators believe the new governor-elect will strengthen the mayor’s local crusade to undermine public schools, reduce retiree’ pensions and cut vital city services in poor neighborhoods in order to expand downtown.

CTU’s formal endorsement followed a recommendation from the labor group’s Political Action/Legislative Committee which met with both Garcia and 2^nd Ward Alderman Robert “Bob” Fioretti, the only other progressive candidate seeking to get on the February ballot.  Through an internal, democratic vetting process, the committee comprised of rank-and-file teachers, paraprofessionals and school clinicians agreed that because of Chuy’s three decades of consistent leadership and because he has a significant grassroots base and can mount a viable campaign against Emanuel he should receive full union support.

“Our union leadership has spoken: Garcia is dedicated to making Chicago work for all of its residents and he will be a strong advocate for public school educators, our students and their families,” said CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey. “Chuy has spent his life working as an advocate for economic development, equity and growth in areas that have long been ignored. As mayor he will put the focus back on neighborhoods and the diverse people who live within them.”

Thousands of Chicagoans remain turned off by Emanuel’s top-down, racially insensitive policies that led to largest school closures in U.S. history, reductions in library services, smaller school budgets and the strategic closures of mental health clinics in black and brown communities. Noting the mayor’s 70 percent disapproval rating, many Chicagoans agree with Lewis that the “city is moving in the wrong direction” and are focused on changing the leadership in City Hall.

“If (Garcia) is elected as our mayor, I know he will work for all of our citizens, not just the corporate elites and special interests who seek to privatize our public assets,” President Lewis said last week. “Chuy is the right leader for the right time to move our city forward. South Side, West Side, North Side, everybody, let’s support the bigger man.”

The first Mexican-American in the Illinois State Senate and a key City Council ally to Harold Washington, the city’s first African-American mayor, Chuy has been a strong supporter of organized labor, working families and the voiceless. Married to a newly retired Chicago Public School educator, the long-time legislator his a unifying force and has a proven track record on fighting for safe and affordable housing; small businesses; job creation; immigrant rights; and social justice.

Mayor Garcia will invite more civic participation in his policy decisions and offer a more democratic, inclusive and transparent leadership style in contrast to Mayor Emanuel’s panache of closed-door, aggressive governance.

“Chuy will crack down on violent crime and violence against our children, and root out waste and abuse in Chicago’s government so we can start investing in essential services like public safety, schools, and putting Chicagoans to work rebuilding our infrastructure,” said Sharkey. “He will also be a powerful voice in Springfield as we continue our fight for an elected representative school board, smaller class sizes and equitable school funding.  Garcia will bring our city together a make it better for all of Chicago.”                                              

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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.    

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