news
CTU applauds mayor’s “Protect Chicago” budget, City Council must vote YES
This week, Mayor Brandon Johnson delivered the most transformative budget to come out of City Hall in generations. The mayor’s Protecting Chicago Budget protects our city from Trump’s cuts and fights for working people instead of against them. We will be urging every city council member to vote yes on the budget, AND we also will continue to push the state to provide the nearly $2 billion it owes our schools. Read more and take action.
The historic TIF surplus in the Protecting Chicago Budget will send more than $500 million to CPS. That’s enough to reverse harmful cuts to special education, secure Black Student Success regardless of Trump’s cuts, and contribute to the pensions of workers who are in the MEABF. These workers are the backbone of our schools. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make the critical investments our students need, but the opposition is already lining up. Please make YOUR voice heard today.
Next step: Springfield Lobby Day, Oct. 29
CTU members hit the capitol for our spring Lobby Day in April.
While the mayor’s budget provides record CPS funding, we cannot let up the pressure on the governor and state legislators to do their part: pay the nearly $2 billion the state owes our schools. Sign up today to join your union siblings for our Oct. 29 Lobby Day and tell your elected officials how the state’s underfunding is impacting your school. We’ll leave early in the morning, get to Springfield before lunchtime, and spend the afternoon speaking with legislators who need to hear directly from the people in our schools. Register today to get on the bus on Oct. 29 and encourage families from your school to join you.
Oct. 18: No Kings, Hands Off Chicago
CTU members have been a leading force in mobilizing to protect our school communities against Trump’s attacks and the invasion of Chicago’s Black and brown communities by federal agents. Let’s show up and show out this Saturday for No Kings! RSVP today. CTU members will meet up at 11:15 a.m. at Crown Fountain in Grant Park
President Trump is waging war on us
Chicago doesn’t need troops. We need investment in our people. In
this op-ed for USA Today, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates calls out President Trump’s militarized assault on our city. As federal agents storm our neighborhoods and terrorize Black, Latine, and working-class families, school communities are stepping up. Read the full op-ed in USA Today.
Mayor, AFT President join CTU to denounce Trump agents endangering students
Last week, Mayor Brandon Johnson, AFT President Randi Weingarten, and CPS Board member Jitu Brown joined CTU at Funston Elementary to celebrate the courageous educators who protected students after ICE agents released tear gas near the school. They also denounced the Trump occupation force that is roaming our streets, rounding up our neighbors, and stoking fear in our communities. Watch CTU President Stacy Davis Gates’ powerful statement and watch video of the full press conference.
Charter closings, special education, Trump cuts require decisive CPS action
Last week, we joined charter parents, elected officials, and community members to call on CPS to take bold, decisive action in the wake of a spate of charter closings, special education staff cuts and slashed federal funding. We held a press conference before a CPS Board meeting. “We’re standing here today, in coalition with parents and community, to demand accountability and transparency from our schools,” CTU Charter Division Chair Jen Conant said. Later, CTU Vice President Jackson Potter and CTU Charter Division Vice Chair Caroline Rutherford testified at the meeting. Watch video of the pre-meeting news conference.
Charter educators, parents demand answers, seek state probe
Charter school parents and educators are asking the state to investigate whether charter mismanagement has prompted the decision to close EPIC, ChiArts, and Acero schools. The parents believe a lack of oversight is causing repeated disruptions in their students’ education. Read more and watch educators and parents discuss the complaint.
ChiArts saves lives, parent says
A ChiArts parent shared powerful testimony before the CPS Board of Education meeting, describing a school where students from every zip code are seen, celebrated, and inspired to be their authentic selves. Watch the moving video.
Breast Cancer Awareness Month
This #BreastCancerAwarenessMonth, let’s take action — for ourselves, our families, and each other. Our contract covers mammograms, ultrasounds, and MRIs at no cost to union members. Book your mammogram. Encourage a friend. Let’s make prevention part of our power. Learn more about what our contract covers and how to access the medical care you and your family need.
Nov. 7: Baile de Muertos
Join us to celebrate our Latine community and honor Día de los Muertos with a night full of music, food, culture, and solidarity, hosted by the CTU Latine Caucus and CTU Human Rights Committee. Save the date and RSVP today.
Still time to join the We Care mentoring program
The We Care mentoring program has openings for Virtual Instruction Coaches, and space is also available for all early career educators, including clinicians, in years one through three. The coaches support new educators with curriculum development, classroom management, pedagogy, IEPs, and other issues specific to their subject, grade, and area of expertise. Sign up here to join the program, and sign up here to become a coach!
Defending Democracy
Funston Sidewalk Solidarity springs into action
When Funston Elementary delegate Maria Heavener started her Sidewalk Solidarity team, she was one of just a few people standing outside after school. But when ICE agents deployed their tear gas next to her school last week, 100 people turned out to protect students and families — and let the agents know they are not welcome in our community. Watch Maria discuss how her organizing paid off for the Funston community.
State action needed to protect students from Trump’s harmful education cuts
Donald Trump’s continued attacks on public education show why we have to partner at the local and state levels to protect our most vulnerable students. Students in special education, in Black Student Success programs, and all students across our state need a plan that goes beyond recognizing that the most recent Department of Education cuts will hurt. Read more.
We need to protect all our communities
ICE and the National Guard don’t just target one community — they put all of us at risk when they make racial judgments based on appearance. Wallace Wilbourn, a 7th/8th grade ELA teacher at Oscar DePriest Elementary, shared the traumatic story of one of his students, who was pulled from a car and held for hours by ICE until her father could bring proof of her citizenship. That’s why it is so important that we show up, in red, in solidarity with our neighbors. Watch Wallace’s video.
Members corner
Spotlight a union sibling
Did one of your colleagues go above and beyond? Want to celebrate a union sibling’s achievement? Send your blurb (one to four sentences) to communications@ctulocal1.org for consideration in an upcoming Members Corner.
Notes
Oct. 21: DePaul Fall Forum
Events
Oct. 18 | No Kings Day national rally.
Oct. 21 | DePaul College of Education Fall forum.
Oct. 29 | CTU Lobby Day.
Nov. 7| Baile de Muertos.
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For more CTU news and updates, please visit our website at www.ctulocal1.org, and follow us on Facebook (including our members only Facebook group), Instagram and Twitter.
