A senior Chicago Public Schools official had notified Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s reelection campaign that soliciting student volunteers through their teachers was not permitted hours before the campaign publicly defended its recruitment effort as a “common practice,” email records show.
Lightfoot, who has since apologized and admitted the tactic was “clearly a mistake,” has faced heavy criticism for the misstep and is under scrutiny by the inspectors general for both the school district and the city. The Chicago Board of Ethics this week asked for full-blown investigations by the watchdogs before issuing a ruling on whether Lightfoot’s campaign violated local ethics rules.
The Lightfoot campaign issued a series of amended statements in the hours after WTTW Channel 11 first reported the recruitment effort Jan. 11. The initial response defended the solicitation, calling the volunteer work a “common practice” that campaigns at all levels have used “for decades” to give “countless high school and college students the opportunity to learn more about the election process.” Soon after backlash mounted, the campaign said it would stop contacting teachers.
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