Sen. Elizabeth Warren rallies with striking Chicago teachers

Picketing teachers and school support staff welcomed a special guest Tuesday morning at DePriest Elementary School on the West Side.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., a top Democratic presidential hopeful, joined the striking workers for a rally alongside CTU President Jesse Sharkey, American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten and a few elected officials.

“I’m here to stand with Chicago teachers. I’m here to stand with Chicago nurses. I’m here to stand with Chicago’s librarians,” Warren told the crowd of a couple hundred gathered in a soggy field outside the school.

“I’m here to stand with every one of the people who stand for our children every day,” the senator said. “Everyone in America should support you in this strike.”

Presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) joins striking Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Local 73 members for a speech on the picket line outside Oscar DePriest Elementary School on the West Side, Tuesday morning, Oct. 22, 2019. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

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Presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) hug supporters as she joins striking Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Local 73 members for a speech on the picket line outside Oscar DePriest Elementary School on the West Side, Tuesday morning, Oct. 22, 2019. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

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Striking Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Local 73 members rally on the picket line outside Oscar DePriest Elementary School on the West Side, Tuesday morning, Oct. 22, 2019. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

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Presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) greets Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson as she joins striking Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Local 73 members for a speech on the picket line outside Oscar DePriest Elementary School on the West Side, Tuesday morning, Oct. 22, 2019. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

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Presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) takes selfies with supporters as she joins striking Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Local 73 members for a speech on the picket line outside Oscar DePriest Elementary School on the West Side, Tuesday morning, Oct. 22, 2019. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

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Presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) waves to supporters as she joins striking Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Local 73 members for a speech on the picket line outside Oscar DePriest Elementary School on the West Side, Tuesday morning, Oct. 22, 2019. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

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Striking Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Local 73 members listen to presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s (D-MA) speech during a rally on the picket line outside Oscar DePriest Elementary School on the West Side, Tuesday morning, Oct. 22, 2019. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

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Presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) waves goodbye to supporters after joining striking Chicago Teachers Union and SEIU Local 73 members for a speech on the picket line outside Oscar DePriest Elementary School on the West Side, Tuesday morning, Oct. 22, 2019. | Ashlee Rezin Garcia/Sun-Times

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Warren didn’t answer a question about whether she had spoken to Mayor Lori Lightfoot — which would be customary for a Democratic presidential candidate in a majority Democratic U.S. city.

“What I want to do is I want to give cities like Chicago a good federal partner,” Warren responded. “What we need to do is we need to ask those at the very top to pitch in a little more so that we can actually make the investments in every single child in this country. That’s how we build a future.”

LIVE UPDATES: Elizabeth Warren joins teachers on picket line

“That’s what CTU is here for. That’s what SEIU is here for. And that’s why I wanted to be here with them.”

CTU vice president Stacy Davis Gates said Warren’s visit was “deeply validating for us.”

“To be seen and to be heard as an educator in America is wonderful,” she said. “We have been blamed for everything wrong in this society and when you finally hear a person who could potentially be the next president of the United States of America tell us we matter, we’re right and continue to fight, that’s validation out of this world.”