SPRINGFIELD, Ill. – Both major teacher unions (IEA & IFT) are using school district email services and personnel in an attempt to get teachers to crossover and vote in the Republican primary for Kirk Dillard.

The EducationMatters.us blog did a FOIA of school districts across the state.  Here are some excerpts from the emails uncovered so far.  The first excerpt is from an IEA email Cinda Klickna entitled, “[MARKETING] Background/talking points on Dillard recommendation”

What can we do to support Sen. Dillard?

* At the polling place, ask for a Republican ballot and vote for Sen. Kirk Dillard for governor.

* Even if you’ve never voted in a Republican primary, or any primary at all, you can ask for a Republican ballot.

* Between now and Election Day, talk with your friends, family and colleagues and encourage them to vote for Sen. Dillard for governor in the Republican Primary.

* Use your social network accounts (Facebook, Twitter, etc.) to urge your friends to support Sen. Dillard. Here’s an example of what you might post:

* Please share this message

From the IEA recommendation email:

On Election Day, any registered voter can request a Republican ballot even if he/she has never voted in a Republican Primary.

What did the IFT emails say?

because there is so much at stake in this Republican primary, suggesting for whom NOT to vote isn’t enough. We wanted to provide anyone who plans to pull a Republican ballot with our recommendation

This year, many IFT members will choose to vote in the Republican Primary Election on March 18th. That’s why we believe it is so important to participate in this process. We know it’s a rare moment for the IFT, but we believe it’s the right thing to do and hope you’ll help promote Kirk Dillard in the Republican Primary Election.

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What the IFT does next though is actually more egregious than an email:

From: John Barger [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Tuesday, March 11, 2014 8:32 PM
To: Pete Donnelly; [email protected]; Stellhorn, Julie ([email protected]); Pradeep Vig; Pat Henrichs; Bruce Malone
Subject: flyers

Please find the attachment that we spoke about on the phone today.  If you are unable to deliver the hard copy flyers to your members that I am dropping off on Wednesday,

You read that correctly.  The IFT sent hard copy flyers to the school district to be hand delivered.   GCSD is Granite City School District.  Here is the actual flyer.

 

The IFT Representative that covers multiple school districts was much smarter when asking for the hard copy flyers to be delivered.  She actually put the law about poltical work on state time into her email.

As you are aware, the IFT has endorsed Kirk Dillard for Governor in the Republican primary March 18th. There are important flyers that need to be distributed to our members as soon as possible. The flyers just arrived at the Springfield office and Mary Lucas will be mailing them to you shortly.

It is important for you to develop a plan of distribution to the membership of your local. These flyers cannot be placed in work mailboxes. They need to be hand delivered, perhaps at a membership meeting. I understand with the short time frame, this will be challenging, but this is critical for the primary.

As a reminder, the following is the Illinois State Ethics Act  that prohibits political activity during employer time:

The State Officials and Employees Ethics Act prohibits State employees and officials from engaging in certain political activities, including, but not limited to, “soliciting votes on behalf of a candidate for elective office or a political organization or for or against any referendum question” and “distributing, preparing for distribution, or mailing campaign literature, campaign signs, or other campaign material on behalf of any candidate for elective office or for or against any referendum question.”

What is very clear from the actions of the IEA and the IFT is that they are most certainly attempting to hijack the Republican primary just as Bruce Rauner warned.

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