Chicago, IL – After midnight on Wednesday, February 10, the Chicago Teachers Union officially certified ballot results ratifying an agreement between the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) that will provide a framework for returning to in-person learning in Chicago Public Schools. The vote to ratify the agreement passed by just over a two thirds majority. However, the union has been clear that they do not feel that this plan is what the teachers or students and community deserve. They say it is disgraceful that the Chicago Public School System could not delay reopening for a few weeks to ramp up vaccinations and preparations in schools, and that the mayor and CPS leadership were willing to do even further harm to the school district to maintain their posture. They say this is a stain on the record of the administration.
Chicago, IL – Thousands of Chicago Public Schools teachers, clinicians and staff returning to school buildings last Monday found conditions far below the standards and promises touted by Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public Schools in preparation for opening doors to students on January 11. Throughout the week, educators submitted photos, video and detailed reports of their findings, which included no masks available upon arrival, empty hand sanitizer dispensers, hallways filled with debris from locker installation and brown water in bathroom sinks.
Chicago, IL – More than 100 teachers, parents and community members participated in a car caravan, December 12 for safety, equality and trust. Chicago Public Schools has rejected the union’s safety concerns at every turn, refused to bargain to consensus on safety needs, rejected improving its inhumane remote learning program despite months of pleas from parents, students and educators, and fallen woefully short on safety promises they’ve made.
Chicago, IL – Close to 400,000 students in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) are in their seventh week of remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Through this haze of attempting to teach the children of Chicago one thing is becoming crystal clear: disparity. According to NBC Chicago 52% of coronavirus deaths are of African American people and 25% are Latinos. Working-class African American and Latino neighborhoods on the South and West Sides are being hit much harder than predominantly white neighborhoods downtown and on the North Side.
Chicago, IL – Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) members voted November 15 to accept the tentative agreement they won in the wake of their historic eleven-day strike.
Chicago, IL – The energy was high at Whittier Elementary’s la casita, as the parents and their children prepared for another vigilant night to protect their field house from demolition, Sept. 20. Sign-in sheets covered the front tables with ‘on-guard’ schedules and long lists of names and contact information from educators, community members, members of the Chicago Teachers’ Union and other supporters. Sept. 20, began the seventh day of the occupation of the field house at this school in Pilsen, a Chicano/Mexicano neighborhood on Chicago’s west side.
