Chicago Teachers Union spends thousands on flyers attacking candidates for school board
CHICAGO (CBS) -- In two weeks, voters will be electing a new Chicago school board—and CBS News Chicago has learned more than $3 million has been raised in the race, with a big chunk of it going toward advertising.
A total of 31 candidates are vying for 10 spots in what is now a $3.2 million race for Chicago's first elected school board. More than $38,000 has come in the last couple of days just for Chicago Teachers Union-backed candidates—earmarked specifically for phone calls, text messages, and radio ads.
Thousands of dollars were spent specifically on a run of flyers alone. The flyers, which some are receiving in the mail right now, claim candidates in the race are aligned with former president Donald Trump and "out-of-state billionaires."
The flyers were paid for by Chicago Teachers Union political action committees. Some call the flyers slanderous.
"Accusing me of being a Trump puppet and a proponent of Project 2025, which couldn't be further from the truth," said Karin Norington-Reaves, one of four Chicago School Board candidates for the 10th District.
A closer look at those fliers indicates that they were paid for by the Chicago Teachers Union Local 1 PAC, while others were funded by the CTU.
"I want to make sure people know the truth about what's happening," Norington-Reaves said. "People who know me know this is not true at all."
Norington-Reaves reached out to CBS News Chicago about the flyers.
"I thought it was important voters are able to make informed decisions that are rooted in truth.," Norington-Reaves said.
Norington-Reaves is not the only one being targeted in a flyer.
Miquel Lewis, who is running for Chicago School Board in the 9th District, released this statement:
"I got into this race because for too long our schools have been failing to meet the needs of our kids. As a progressive Democrat and a father, I believe that every child deserves the right to a quality education, regardless of their zip code and it's why my campaign has resonated with so many families in my district. I'm disappointed that my opponents have resorted to lies to confuse voters about my values and my record, but I'm focused on talking to voters every day and earning their trust to fight for our kids' futures. Our campaign is centered around providing the best educational opportunities for the students in the 9th district — and that will continue to be my priority on the school board."
Ellen Rosenfeld, running in the 4th, released this statement:
"It is unfortunate Mayor Brandon Johnson and the Chicago Teacher's Union have resorted to funneling hundreds of thousands of dollars into a shadow organization to make false claims about me and my family in a desperate attempt to win this election. The truth is they know I am the most competitive candidate for School Board in District 4 because of my experience as a teacher, CPS staffer, and parent of four. I am a lifelong Democrat who has voted in every Democratic primary and lives the values of our party daily. My values are what drove me to run for school board and advocate for parents and students in my community. I call on Mayor Johnson, the CTU, and their handpicked candidate Karen Zaccor to denounce these dirty, misleading tactics and run a campaign the way our school board should be run: with integrity and transparency."
Angel Gutierrez, who is running for an 8th District seat, released this statement:
"Personally, I have to add that it's so disappointing that CTU has spent this much money on school board elections. From creating multiple committees (each with overhead), and donating this much money -it feels like they are more of a threat than "out-of-state billionaires," and I don't think we will ever know how much money they actually spent…..But this happens when you run candidates that do not have the breath of experiences of working in community and know how to get things done - from managing budgets, running a board room, engaging and creating programs that have positive impact on the community to working at all levels of government working on passing consensus and meaningful pieces of legislation around food and nutrition bills, because I understand how to do a Roll Call…"
Campaign finance records show CTU-funded political action committees have given more than $1 million dollars to those running for school board seats since the beginning of October.
State campaign finance records show opponents of six of those targeted in those October flyers received more than $250,000 in contributions to pay for "direct mail" and "mailing" work done by a Maryland-based business.
All of that was funded by either a CTU Political action committee or other PACs funded by the CTU.
Norington-Reaves said competing with the CTU and its power and resources is a challenge.
"I have to stand on my record, but I do take comfort in knowing that it's not just me. There's one person in every single district that's being targeted in this way and what voters need to know is that's the person who CTU fears the most," she said. "It is very tough to compete with that kind of influx of cash."
The current members of the Chicago Board of Education recently resigned, and Mayor Brandon Johnson has named replacements. By 2027, the school board will be fully elected.
A hybrid board will be elected in a few weeks, with 11 members and a chair appointed by Mayor Johnson.
"Even if you get the next mayor who is not a big supporter of the teachers' union, who was not a teacher himself or herself, you're going to have people on the new school board who support the union and the union's initiatives," said North Central College political science professor Stephen Maynard Caliendo.
Caliendo said the school board race is an example of why it's important for people to do their own research. This was something that candidates said too.
"You're going to have to do the work on your own to get there," Caliendo said.
"Really look into what is someone's record. What have they done? What have they stood for?" Norington-Reaves said. "Don't listen to CTU. Don't even listen to our ads—our ads are positive as well. Do your research."
CBS News Chicago first reached the CTU with questions about its contributions to this particular race, and any affiliation with those fliers last week. As of late Tuesday, there were still no answers to those questions.