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Teachers’ Union Is Backing Thompson’s Bid for Mayor

William C. Thompson Jr. on Wednesday as the United Federation of Teachers announced its support for him in the mayoral race.Credit...Michael Nagle for The New York Times

The United Federation of Teachers, one of the largest union locals in the country, on Wednesday rallied its vast network of members behind William C. Thompson Jr. in the race for mayor of New York.

The endorsement from the teachers’ union, one of the most prized of the campaign, could help jump-start the candidacy of Mr. Thompson, a former city comptroller, as he seeks to extend his support ahead of a Democratic primary in September.

Union leaders described Mr. Thompson as a longtime advocate for students who would work to address the concerns of teachers, including reducing standardized testing and ending the city’s practice of closing low-performing schools.

Standing with Mr. Thompson at a news conference, Michael Mulgrew, the union president, said, “We need to make sure that this entire city school system is about helping teachers help children, and we now have a candidate we know will do that.”

In accepting the endorsement, Mr. Thompson said he could sympathize with the difficulties teachers face. He recalled his mother, a former teacher in Brooklyn, falling asleep shortly after coming home from work each day.

“When I’m mayor, I’m going to fight day and night to help the teachers of New York,” he said.

The endorsement was something of a risk for the union, which has not aligned itself with a successful candidate for mayor since 1989, when it supported David N. Dinkins. The union has avoided many races since then; it last made an endorsement in 2001. It passed over Mr. Thompson in 2009, when he was the Democratic nominee running against Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, a political independent.

The strength of the teachers’ union imprimatur in this election remains to be seen, even though it has at its disposal a treasury of at least $2.5 million, a large base of members to volunteer in get-out-the-vote efforts and a sophisticated trove of data to help it go after likely voters.

The union — which counts about 200,000 teachers, retirees and other school employees as members — finds itself at the center of a deep division among labor groups.

The city’s largest union, 1199 S.E.I.U. United Healthcare Workers East, which represents health care workers, is supporting another Democrat, Bill de Blasio, the public advocate. And District Council 37, a large union representing municipal workers, has endorsed John C. Liu, the city comptroller.

Some election experts believe those tensions could come to the fore over the next several months, and diminish the influence of labor groups at the polls.

“The days of unified labor are pretty long over,” said Joshua B. Freeman, a history professor at the City University of New York, adding that municipal unions had grown so large they did not need to band together to be heard.

Still, Dr. Freeman said, the teachers’ union had the advantage of broad name recognition. “There are a lot of people who care about education in this city and care about what the teachers have to say,” he said.

By bringing Mr. Thompson a large bloc of middle-class voters, the endorsement could help him draw support away from Christine C. Quinn, the City Council speaker and the front-runner.

On Wednesday, Michael Morey, Ms. Quinn’s campaign spokesman, said, “Chris Quinn is the only candidate who has delivered real results for our public schools.”

Many of the Democratic candidates went to great lengths to secure the endorsement of the teachers’ union, talking regularly with union leaders, turning their ideas into proposals and accompanying them on visits to schools.

Mr. Thompson, a former president of the city’s Board of Education, joined in the union’s attacks on Mr. Bloomberg’s education record. At one point, he said he would give up the mayor’s majority on an educational oversight board, an idea that struck some supporters of mayoral control of city schools as sacrilege.

Even as he has emerged as frequent critic of the mayor, Mr. Thompson has made efforts to assure Mr. Bloomberg’s supporters that he would not undo all of his policies. Mr. Thompson has met privately with charter school leaders to say he was receptive to their concerns.

On Wednesday, however, some education advocates remained disillusioned with Mr. Thompson’s platform.

Glen Weiner, acting executive director of StudentsFirstNY, an advocacy group, said he was concerned Mr. Thompson would adopt the union’s policies, including its demands for retroactive raises. Mr. Thompson said on Wednesday that he supported raises, but did not comment on whether he would agree to retroactive payments.

“Espousing the teachers’ union policies would turn back the clock on our kids,” he said. “We don’t want kids to be forced to attend failing schools.”

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 25 of the New York edition with the headline: Teachers’ Union Is Backing Thompson’s Bid for Mayor. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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