Boston Teachers Union Will Not Endorse In Mayor's Race

The Boston Teachers Union will not endorse a candidate in the city's hotly contested mayor's race.

"We just decided not to endorse, we'll leave it at that," said Richard Stutman, president of the union.

Union rules call for a two-thirds vote from two committees — the executive board and the committee on political education — followed by a two-thirds vote of the full membership.

But the committees did not recommend an endorsement to the membership.

The union does not normally endorse in mayoral races. Before this year, the last time it formally backed a candidate was in 1991 when its former president, Edward Doherty, ran against then-Mayor Ray Flynn.

But this year, it endorsed two candidates — City Councilors Felix Arroyo and Rob Consalvo — in the waning days of the 12-way preliminary mayoral election.

Arroyo and Consalvo both warned against the "demonization" of public school teachers and presented themselves as alternatives to candidates like City Councilor John Connolly.

Connolly, one of two mayoral finalists with state Rep. Marty Walsh, has called for more charter schools — opposed by the union — and sweeping change in public education.

The teachers union has been a sharp critic of Connolly, who was the sole council vote against the last teachers contract.

And some observers expected the organization to get behind Walsh — a longtime labor leader, who stepped down from his post atop the Boston Building Trades to run for mayor.

Walsh, though, serves on the board of a charter school in Dorchester.