Volume 86, Issue 4
Other Issues
Features
Brandon Johnson is looking to go from the public school classroom to mayor of Chicago
Jacobin Magazine interviewed mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson at the end of the year. In the wide-ranging interview, Brandon discusses his background and his vision for a Chicago that works for us ALL. “The story of Chicago right now — for everyday, regular Chicago — is that it’s hard. It’s hard to live in Chicago,” Brandon says. His campaign, and the movement surrounding it, aims to change that.
President’s message: Time for a change
As the first openly gay woman mayor of Chicago, Mayor Lightfoot bills herself as an advocate for women, Black people and the LGBTQIA+ community whose life has been spent breaking glass ceilings. But her actions as mayor tell another story and her petty politics of retribution continue to harm the very women she professes to care so much about.
Mayor Lightfoot reneges on parental leave expansion
With just seven weeks until the mayoral elections, Mayor Lightfoot interfered with CPS operations and derailed a process that was scheduled to expand our paid parental leave rights by a factor of six, from two weeks to 12, at the end of January. We are fighting back.
Celebrating our member leaders
This month, we’re featuring several dynamic member leaders: CTU Administrator of New Teacher Development Tara Stamps, Christopher House teacher Michelle Correa, CTU Organizer Linda Perales, and guest teacher Dalton S. Day.
PSRP Corner: Starting the new year off right
CTU Recording Secretary and PSRP for life Christel Williams-Hayes has some advice to help our PSRPs start the new year off right.
Out on the campaign trail for CTU candidates Brandon Johnson and Lori Torres
Every time CTU Vice President Jackson Potter heads out canvassing, he has doubts. Will people answer their doors? Will they take a few minutes to listen? Will it make a difference in who they vote for or the issues they prioritize? The answer is a resounding, yes!
CTU Foundation made holidays special for families in need
Right before the holidays, the CTU Foundation adopted four families in need of some holiday joy — eight adults and 20 children — and delivered $2,300 worth of gifts to them, right as a winter storm started blowing in.
In Memoriam December 2022
Lists of deceased members of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) are provided to the Chicago Union Teacher by the office of the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund (CTPF) and are printed as received. If you notice an error or omission, please first contact the CTPF at 312.641.4464 or via email at memberservices@ctpf.org to report the information. Please contact the CTU Membership Dept. as well by phoning 312.329.9100. Both the CTPF and CTU disburse survivor benefits to deceased members’ designated beneficiaries.
President’s message: Together, we are unstoppable
CTU President Stacy Davis Gates reflects on the first 100 days of the union’s new leadership. When we kicked off our administration with the moniker “all gas, no breaks,” she writes, we meant it.
PSRP Corner: If you go the extra mile for your school during the holidays, make sure to take a rest break
PSRPs often go the extra mile to accommodate the needs of our school communities. From working later unpaid hours, covering classes in the absence of staff and preparing bulletin boards, you pitch in when needed. But during the winter holidays, that extra mile may seem more like a 5 k marathon.
CTU brother Brandon Johnson will be the mayor for ALL Chicago
When CTU member and Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson launched his candidacy for mayor, standing in the shadow of Jenner Academy where he began his teaching career, he recalled his experience at the school.
“As a teacher, I experienced the painful impact of disinvestment on my students and their families, and this personal experience — seeing children endure inequity — is what fuels my commitment to building a stronger, safer and more equitable Chicago,” Johnson said.
Celebrating our member leaders
This month, we’re featuring several dynamic member leaders: CTU organizer and mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson, CTU member and aldermanic candidate Lori Torres, Washington High School teacher Lauren Bianchi, CTU Lead Organizer Tennille Evans, and Zeidre Foster, director of CTU’s grievance department.
Victories for Workers’ Rights Amendment, CTU-endorsed candidates set stage for February
Despite a coordinated assault against the Workers’ Rights Amendment by the far right, the amendment passed and the right to organize and bargain collectively is now enshrined in the Illinois Constitution. That win on Nov. 8, plus victories by all 34 CTU-endorsed candidates, proved our union’s ability to organize, build alliances and get out the vote in every corner of the city.
How I spent my election day
Paula Ladin was one of hundreds of rank and file CTU members and allies volunteering on Election Day. In this post, she shares her experience and encourages other members to volunteer because it’s “an antidote to feeling helpless or hopeless.”
How to survive the holiday season in your classroom — advice from a veteran teacher
Thinking back, Tara Stamps wishes she had listened to the advice veteran teachers gave her going into the holiday season. But she didn’t, until years later, and boy did she pay for it.
CTU Climate Justice Committee fights for green schools, equity across the district
CPS school buildings need a lot of work — $2 billion in upgrades by the district’s own assessment — for the sake of our students and our environment and piecemeal repairs are not enough. With the help of CTU’s Climate Justice Committee, the union has launched a new citywide campaign to fight for clean, green, and fully resourced schools.
Delegates Not Present November 2, 2022 House of Delegates Meeting
Network 1A Avrick, Rachel Benedix, Kenneth Erzrumly, Layla Green, Laurie Kleinhubert, Mary Pomerantz, Julie Prysny, Saba Spagnola, Patricia Network 1B Fisher, Nicki Nikolopoulos, Anastasia Peters, Derrill Pfeiffer, Ashton West, Margaret Network 1C Golden, David...Delegates Not Present December 7, 2022 House of Delegates Meeting
Network 1A Avrick, Rachel Benedix, Kenneth Green, Laurie Lara, Denise Pomerantz, Julie Prysny, Saba Network 1B Buen, Lorelei Cooley, Amy Davis, Deborah Fisher, Nicki Peters, Derrill Pfeiffer, Ashton Volkowitz, Rachel Network 1C Davidson, Susan Graves, Kenneth Juhl,...In Memoriam November 2022
Lists of deceased members of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) are provided to the Chicago Union Teacher by the office of the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund (CTPF) and are printed as received. If you notice an error or omission, please first contact the CTPF at 312.641.4464 or via email at memberservices@ctpf.org to report the information. Please contact the CTU Membership Dept. as well by phoning 312.329.9100. Both the CTPF and CTU disburse survivor benefits to deceased members’ designated beneficiaries.
