Hundreds of Chicago Teachers To Skip Work To Lobby for Giant Raises, Radical Teaching Freedoms, as Schools Flounder

The city’s teachers’ union has ‘positioned itself as the new political machine in Chicago,’ one observer tells the Sun, as the group implements a playbook that ‘will be used to inspire other government and teachers unions around the country.’

Scott Olson/Getty Images
Chicago's mayor, Brandon Johnson, greets students, parents, and staff during the first day of classes at Beidler Elementary School, August 21, 2023. Scott Olson/Getty Images

Hundreds of Chicago public school teachers will skip work on Wednesday and head to the Illinois state capital to lobby for billions of dollars that could be used to fund a lengthy list of “politically charged” union demands, as students in the district face troubling absenteeism rates, violent crime, and poor test scores. 

The district says the money would go toward pensions and represents the district’s “fair share” of state funding, but it could also be used “to shore up funds” for union demands that include enormous pay hikes, teacher autonomy over sensitive subjects, and millions of dollars in home-buying and rental assistance for teachers, the senior director of labor policy at Illinois Policy Institute, Mailee Smith, tells the Sun.

Chicago Public Schools is “committed to standing alongside Chicago Teachers Union,” a representative of the district tells the Sun, “to advocate for our fair share of funding from the State of Illinois.” Top district leaders, including the Board of Education’s president and the district’s chief executive, will travel to Springfield on May 15, the representative confirms, and the district is allowing one union member from each of the city’s more than 600 schools to skip work that day to lobby for more money. 

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