Wilmette School Board Member Criticized Over Role In Chicago Teacher Union Campaign

WILMETTE, IL — The former board president of Wilmette School District 39 is facing criticism from Chicago Teachers Union leadership for her involvement the union's upcoming election.

Lisa Schneider Fabes, who has served on the District 39 board since 2017 and served as transition manager for Mayor Lori Lightfoot's administration after her election in 2019, was listed as the contact for a since-deleted social media campaign for a group called Chicago Teachers United.

The group paid about $900 to run three advertisements on Facebook and Instagram during the second week of February, according to records from the platforms' parent company Meta, which estimated they were shown to between 24,000 and 31,000 people in Illinois.

Each ad linked to the campaign of Members First, a slate of candidates looking to unseat the Caucus of Rank-and-file Educators, or CORE, from its leadership roles in the May 20 election. CORE won 66 percent of the vote in the union's last election in 2019.

One of the ads references the paychecks teachers lost during last month's boycott of in-person learning.

"CTU Leadership cost each and every member more than $1,600.00 in pay last month and all we got were a couple extra N95 masks. Time for a Change," it said.

"Teachers deserve more. CTU Leadership Got us Less Time for a change. Learn More: Members First," said the accompanying image.

Employers are forbidden by federal law from getting involved in their employees' union elections.

After Lightfoot was sworn into office, Schneider Fabes took a paid role as vice president for the public-private partnership World Business Chicago and was immediately detailed to the mayor's office in a volunteer capacity, according to past reports.

Schneider Fabes, of Wilmette, stepped down from both roles in December 2019 amid an investigation by the Office of the Inspector General into whether she was in violation of the city's residency requirement for employees.

Schneider Fabes told Patch that Chicago Teachers United was an independent organization and had received legal advice that its campaign was aboveboard.

"I have not had a role within the Lightfoot administration for several years," Schneider Fabes said in an email. "The real story here is that parents across the City are unhappy with the actions taken by the current union leadership and are calling for change, and we’re happy to independently lend our support."

Schneider Fabes’ involvement in the group was discovered by members of the Chicago Teachers Union, or CTU, through a reverse phone lookup and was first reported by WBEZ.

Records with the Illinois Secretary of State show it was incorporated last month. It has yet to file any financial records with the Illinois State Board of Elections.

CTU President Jesse Sharkey, who announced this month that he is not seeking re-election, described Schneider Fabes as a well-paid political operative, telling WBEZ her involvement was an "affront to the integrity of our union," "unprecedented" and "despicable."

The union forbids candidates for leadership roles from pursuing outside support. A spokesperson for the mayor's office told WBEZ it has never had any involvement in an internal union election and the Chicago Teachers United group appears to have been pursued independently by Schneider Fabes.

The Members First caucus has criticized CTU leadership for its reliance on work stoppages and strikes. The 14-day strike in October 2019 was the longest in decades for Chicago Public School students. After the adoption of a new contract, the union held two "work actions" during the coronavirus pandemic where teachers refused to teach in person.

“If the CTU’s leadership was proactive, rather than reactive, we would have had a plan in place before winter break to be safe from COVID upon returning to our schools," Mary Esposito-Usterbowski, the presidential candidate from the Members First slate and a citywide CPS school psychologist, said last month in a campaign announcement. "Our union members, students, and families deserve so much more."

Members First representatives did not respond to a request for comment about the Chicago Teachers United campaign.

Related: Wilmette Resident Resigns From Paid Chicago Roles Amid Inspector General Probe