Chicago City Wire

Chicago Public Schools has been accused of busing students to local polling places and encouraging them to vote for Brandon Johnson for mayor.

Johnson, a Cook County Commissioner, is a former teacher who is employed by the Chicago Teacher’s Union where he was formerly an organizer. His candidacy has been heavily backed by the CTU.

Ald. Ray Lopez was one of several who elevated reports that CPS had bused students into early polling places to vote for Johnson.

“Getting reports from 15th Ward EV site at Gage Park that large groups of students were brought in there, many trying to register & vote despite some not being of age,” Lopez posted on Twitter.

NBC’s Mary Ann Ahern posted a response from CPS after noting “Lindblom teachers took students to Early Voting and encouraged them to vote” for Johnson.

"Chicago Public Schools (CPS) does not coordinate with any political candidates or campaigns. CPS encourages student engagement with the electoral process through our nonpartisan election and civic engagement curriculum, but we do not endorse specific campaigns,” Chicago Public Schools said in a statement.

Ahern added CPS is investigating whether students improperly checked out of school to go to the polling places.

"CPS is reviewing whether there’s a need for a formal investigation into whether students left school without necessary clearances," Ahern tweeted.

Johnson also recently received another $1.5 million from the Chicago Teacher’s Union.

The CTU, to which all Chicago Public Schools teachers pay dues, has funded the bulk of Johnson’s campaign.

The union also voted to raise member dues by $8 per month through June of 2023 just to support Johnson’s candidacy.

Johnson is also employed by the CTU which has paid him over $390,000 for being a “legislative coordinator.”

Of the nearly $5 million donated to Johnson’s campaign, around 65% has come from government sector unions.

Paul Vallas, the top vote-getter in the Feb. 28 mayoral race, was formerly the head of the CPS.

In early 2022 he said the CTU has too much control over the lives of Chicago’s children, calling the union’s influence an “almost totalitarian school system.”

Vallas, a southside native who grew up in the Roseland neighborhood, was CPS’s chief from 1995 to 2001.

He has been critical of the school’s leadership in recent years.

"The union has been radicalized. They decided to wrap themselves in the mantle of the progressive movement. That's why a lot of times they are pursuing things in negotiations that are totally unrelated to the basic responsibilities of the schools which are to provide a quality education, to keep these buildings open,” Vallas told Chicago’s Morning Answer.

He has called for CPS to be broken down into more manageable units.