CHICAGO (AP) — Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner says a one-day strike by Chicago teachers is “shameful” because “children are the victims in this raw display of political power.”

Teachers are picketing shuttered schools Friday to call for better education funding. They blame Rauner, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and other lawmakers for cuts to education and other programs.

The Republican governor and the Chicago Teachers Union are longtime adversaries. Rauner has said CTU and other public-worker unions are too powerful, and he has pushed for measures to curb their political influence.

Rauner says if state lawmakers had approved some of his reforms, a strike could have been averted “and taxpayers and children would have been protected.”

Rauner’s anti-union agenda is a major reason he and majority Democrats still haven’t approved a state budget.