In E-Mail, Rauner Called CPS Teachers 'Virtually Illiterate'
CHICAGO (AP) - Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner once contended half of Chicago Public Schools teachers "are virtually illiterate" and half of its principals are "incompetent."
Rauner's assertion in 2011 was revealed Thursday in emails Mayor Rahm Emanuel's administration released under a court order.
At the time, Rauner was a private equity executive and participant in Chicago school reform. His emails were part of a discussion between affluent education reform activists.
The Chicago Tribune sought Emanuel's emails in connection with its reporting about a principal training program at the center of former CPS Superintendent Barbara Byrd-Bennett's 2015 fraud conviction.
Rauner spokesman Lance Trover issued an apology Thursday, contending many have sent "hastily crafted emails containing inaccurate or intemperate statements."
The statement went on say Rauner regrets writing it and apologizes to CPS educators "for making an unfair, untrue comment."
On Friday, some members of the union disrupted a Rauner news conference.
At that event, Rauner sought to explain the remarks by saying he was passionate about the issue of education and frustrated at the pace of improvements.
