CHICAGO—A statement from Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates regarding the U.S. Department of Education’s Title VI Investigation into Chicago Public Schools for the establishment of the 2023-2024 Black Students Success Plan:

“As a Black mother of three, a high school history teacher, and the president of a union that represents educators serving a predominantly Black and Brown student body, I have witnessed firsthand the impact of years of disinvestment, redlining, and the push to privatize public schools in our neighborhood. These factors have significantly affected the lives and educational trajectories of our students — and ultimately, their futures.

Whether it was the impact of Rahm Emanuel’s closure of more than 50 neighborhood public schools, or the efforts by Paul Vallas and Arne Duncan to undermine our classrooms and surrounding school communities, the Black Student Success Plan was developed to address the man-made educational achievement gap. This gap was created by those intent on shutting the doors of opportunity for families like mine, particularly in specific ZIP codes.

Today’s action by the Trump Administration’s Department of Education, influenced by the right-wing group Defending Education, is yet another attempt to hinder the progress we are striving to achieve. Rather than using the Department to create opportunities for students, Trump and McMahon appear determined to transform it into a debt collection agency and a vehicle to dismantle the civil rights protections that support students and their families.

In response to the administration’s misguided priorities, we are proud to stand with our most vulnerable students and support our classrooms. With our newly ratified agreement with CPS, we’ve secured protections for our LGBTQIA+ students and ensured that educators have the freedom to teach the complex and nuanced chapters of American and Chicago history.

At CTU, standing in solidarity is more than just words. It’s action. It is the action we took in our contract to ensure that our schools were forcefields of protection for Black, Brown, and vulnerable students. And on Thursday, we will respond to the challenge from the Trump administration’s Education Department with one of our own — a challenge driven and powered by everyday workers and community members in all 50 states in over 1,100 actions on May Day to resist Trump’s attempts to take this country backward to the time of the Gilded Age.

We expect CPS to stand up against this baseless investigation — and we call on our city and state leaders to take real action to protect our students and schools. The White House is making its intent clear: to dismantle public education and bully the children who attend our schools.”