Will County Gazette

Will County teachers are being offered $15 an hour to promote Democrat Meg Cappel’s candidacy for Senate, according to a Republican challenger.

“What’s surprising about it is Meg Cappel has hit me hundreds of times for being out in public, talking to people and trying to do my best to help nurses and doctors,” Thomas McCullagh said. “Meg has said that I should be at home and not spread the virus. Now with less than a week to go before the election, she's asking teachers to go out in public and campaign for her after she has been so strongly against any kind of public appearances the entire time.”

Cappel and McCullagh are running for the Illinois State Senate to represent District 49. Jennifer Bertino-Tarrant, a Democrat, won election to the seat in 2012, but her term ends in 2021.

“Cappel voted three times as a Joliet Township High School board member to keep Joliet Township High Schools closed, saying that it was deemed too dangerous for the teachers to be out in public or around the virus, but then they want teachers to go door-to-door and campaign for her in person in different locations,” McCullagh told the Will County Gazette. “If she feels it’s unsafe for teachers to return to school, then how is it safe for them to be out canvassing in public?” 

McCullagh advocates for parents to choose whether their students return to school amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There’s a lot of single-income families that are losing their incomes because their children have to remote learn from home,” he said.

On Wednesday, Oct. 28,  McCullagh said he was presented with internal emails from the American Federation of Teachers Union (AFTU) by an anonymous source, which exposed the solicitation.

“You could have a hundred Republican teachers and a hundred Democratic teachers all putting money into the same Political Action Committee (PAC), but with no input on where or how that money is spent,” McCullagh said. “If they wanted to be fair, they would offer to pay teachers to canvas for me as well. I'm very strongly in support of teachers. I've put out proposed legislation to empower teachers through a Link card-type program where the teachers can buy school supplies and receive money on their cards quarterly. It would allow them to buy school supplies that the classroom needs directly.”

The AFTU email advertising the job to teachers stated the following:

“Meg Cappel and her campaign office have contacted AFT Local 604 looking for help in the last week before elections. She is looking for around 200 people to help with walking door-to-door, to hang door hangers, drop off literature and make phone calls. AFT local 604 would pay $15 an hour and up to $600 to any 604 members wishing to help with this effort.”

The email, according to McCullagh, indicates that money flows from unions and other sources that don't necessarily represent the people that pay into it as evenly as it should. 

“Union members that are Republican get shunned if they say they're going to vote Republican by union members that are Democrats, but there are a lot of people that don't feel that way so PAC money that flows out should be capped per race,” he said.