The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) strike is entering its seventh day, and many observers expect Ai??the labor action to end this week and result in a victory for students and teachers.

But the forces of school privatization aren’t sitting out the fight. A group calling itself Education Reform Advocacy Now is airing a 30-second commercial in Chicago attacking the strike. Watch it:

To start with, the commercial itself is simply misleading. It implies that the CTU opposes a longer school day, whereas the union itself actually agreed to a longer school day as long as teachers are fairly compensated for it.

It’s also important to note who it is who is running the ad. Education Reform Now Advocacy is the 501(c)4 tax status organization run by the same folks who run Democrats For Education Reform (DFER), a group that has openly advocated for charter schools to use funds that are supposed to be used to educate students to instead lobby the government.

Democrats for Education Reform’s board consists almost entirely of individuals from the finance industry (mostly hedge funds). Education Reform Now Advocacy is based not in Chicago — like the teachers it is bashing — but in New York City.

Education Reform Now’s last disclosure filing with the state of New York was in December 2010. Interestingly, the disclosure shows a quarter million dollar loan from Charles Ledley, a hedge fund kingpin who made millions by betting against the subprime mortgage market.

While most of the money from DFER and associated groups comes from Big Finance based outside of Chicago, one group it certainly does not represent is teachers and parents, like those who are fighting for a fair deal from the city today.

We’re not letting this stand. We’ve put together our own ad to fight back — and it features real teachers, students, and parents fighting for their public schools. Check it out:

 

Don’t let this group of financial elites control the debate in Chicago. Click here to pitch in $3 to run our ad featuring parents and teachers standing with the Chicago Teachers Union.