Chicago Teachers Union video targets # SameOldRahm

The Chicago Teachers Union on Wednesday unveiled a 30- second video it calls # SameOldRahm to counter what it called Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s effort to “rewrite the awful truth about his failed leadership” of the Chicago Public Schools.

Mayoral challenger Lori Lightfoot has asked CPS Inspector General Nicholas Schuler to determine whether it’s appropriate for Schools CEO Janice Jackson to star in com- mercials touting the progress at CPS bankrolled by a non- profit with close ties to Emanuel.

The CTU video that will run on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google and other social media sites is an attempt to counter those commercials bankrolled by the non- profit that calls itself Progress Chicago.

The group’s donors are three unions that are among Emanuel’s most reliable campaign contributors and Michael Sacks, the mayor’s biggest donor.

The CTU’s 30- second spot begins with a split screen featuring Jackson and Emanuel.

“So Rahm’s hired another CPS CEO, his fifth one in six years. And his billionaire friends are spending a ton of money hoping we’ll forget the damage they’ve done to our public schools,” a voice- over announcer states.

The video then switches to photos of three prior CEOs: Jean- Claude Brizard, convicted felon Barbara Byrd- Bennett and Forrest Claypool. It ends with a photo of Gov. Bruce Rauner, a former mayoral friend and school reform ally- turned- political adversary.

“You remember them, don’t you? The teachers strike guy. The ethics violator. The convict. And his former chief education adviser,” the narrator says.

“And their biggest achievement? Closing 60- plus schools in black and brown neighborhoods. A new CEO? Whatever. But a new mayor would be much better.”

CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey said the union video is desperately needed to counter the political spin from a mayor who is a notorious media manipulator.

“We want to set the record straight,’’ Sharkey was quoted as saying in a press release. ‘‘ Emanuel controls who sits on his rubber stamp board and who calls the shots in our schools . . . What we need is a new mayor — one who actually cares about our students’ educations instead of gutting their schools, turning his back on their parents and sabotaging their neighborhoods.”