The Rochester Teachers Association is throwing its support behind Mayor Tom Richards for re-election.
"He is accessible. He makes thoughtful decisions and, most importantly, he believes in collaboration," says the head of the teachers union Adam Urbanski, who calls the endorsement of Richards an easy decision.
Richards' educational plan focuses on a handful of areas, which the city supports and enhances the districts’ goals.
Among them: proficiency in reading at grade level expanded learning time, fighting truancy and summer learning loss and increasing the role of city libraries.
"There are going to be tens of thousands of kids in this system for as long as any of us know,” Richards says. “I am not going to turn my back on it. I am not going to turn my back on what I know we need to do. The only way I’m convinced we will do that is we work together on it."
Mayoral opponent City Council President Lovely Warren she's not surprised by the teachers union's support for Richards. She claims the union doesn't want to reform the city school district, but remain at status quo.
"If we have an educational system that we are trying to protect, you're protecting the system. As mayor, I want to protect children, and I want to give parents options and choices for their children."
Warren’s program also focuses on recruiting teachers trained to work with urban children and creating a scholarship fund to help students with college costs.
Richards and Warren go toe-toe for the mayor's seat in the Democratic Primary on September 10.