Statement by the American Federation of Teachers
on Executive Council Decision Concerning the Chicago Teachers Union Election

Chicago, Ill.—This morning, officials from the AFT met with Deborah Lynch and Marilyn Stewart to provide them with the AFT executive council’s final decision concerning the contested June 11 CTU runoff election.  That decision, which is based on the report by the investigation committee it appointed, finds that there are no grounds for overturning the June 11 runoff election, and the slate of officers duly elected on that day, led by Marilyn Stewart, should be installed immediately. We are pleased that a smooth and immediate transition has begun.

Although many allegations of fraud and other improprieties were made by Deborah Lynch, the AFT investigation committee, after exhaustive review of the facts and far-reaching opportunity provided to Ms. Lynch and her attorneys to demonstrate the purported fraud, found none of these allegations to be supported by the facts.  Indeed, after an 11-hour hearing in which the committee heard legal arguments, testimony, and received numerous documents and other legal materials, it found no evidence of ballot tampering, fraud or any other wrongdoing.  There was no evidence presented, despite ample opportunity, to overturn the election and order a rerun. 

Further, the committee concluded that the process by which certain information regarding alleged election improprieties was collected and presented to the CTU Canvassing Committee, under the direction of the Lynch slate, was fundamentally flawed and lacked due process because the Stewart slate never was notified of such activities or given a chance to present its own evidence and arguments before the Canvassing Committee made its decisions.

We are hopeful that the decision released today will allow CTU members to move forward and once again focus on what they do best—work to educate the children of Chicago’s public schools.

The executive council also authorized the AFT president to appoint an individual to supervise the transition from the Lynch team to the Stewart team, and AFT President Edward J. McElroy has appointed Assistant to the President Phil Kugler to this position.

Download Summary of CTU Investigation Decision (pdf)

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