Mayor Shrugs Off Teachers Union's Efforts To Defeat Him In 2015
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Mayor Rahm Emanuel seemed unfazed Tuesday by word that the Chicago Teachers Union plans to work to oust him from office in the next city election.
WBBM Newsradio Political Editor Craig Dellimore reports CTU President Karen Lewis has said the union will launch a voter registration drive, and train possible candidates for mayor and alderman in 2015.
Mayor Dismisses Union's Political Threats
Emanuel barely raised an eyebrow.
"There's about two years between now and the next election. I'm going to focus – as I know our teachers will, and our principals will, and [Chicago Public Schools CEO] Barbara Bennett, and the entire leadership of CPS, and the board – every day will be spent focusing on educating our children, and making sure they're prepared and ready for the future," he said. "Now, other people have the right, obviously, to focus on politics."
The mayor said he's confident teachers will focus on educating children, despite CTU's announcement it would be stepping up its political activities. He said he doesn't expect any CTU effort to oust him from office to get in the way of the mission of educating Chicago students.
"I have all the confidence in our teachers, I have all the confidence in our principals, and I have confidence in our administrators, as well as the board, and I know where I am. So if others want to focus on politics, they have every right to," he said. "They make that choice. I make a choice as the mayor for the city of Chicago."
