Today Illinois lawmakers made history by being the first state in the nation to eliminate a school voucher program, a “reform” effort started in 1956 by white parents in North Carolina seeking to stop public school integration.
Chicago Teachers Union raises concerns about Senate President’s last minute changes to elected school board bill.
This month, our legislative/political team is tackling two big issues for our schools and members. Read the update, followed by a list of quick things you can do to help keep public dollars in our public schools.
We must demand that the “Invest in Kids” voucher program be closed down as quickly as possible. Invest in Kids, under the guise of providing scholarships for private schools, is effectively diverting public funds away from our already underfunded public schools.
The power of our collective advocacy and dedication helped CTU secure important gains during the state legislature’s spring session and Gov. JB Pritzker recently signed three bills that will improve the teaching and learning conditions in our schools.
Two key CTU legislative initiatives passed through committees this week and now go to the full legislative chamber for consideration: one bill requires union neutrality agreements for charter schools and the other allows retired PSRPs to work as substitute paras.
City government looks really different today than it did yesterday — and not just because our union brother Brandon Johnson is now mayor. Huge congratulations to four CTU-endorsed candidates who won seats on the City Council: former SEIU Healthcare staffer Desmon Yancy (5th Ward), longtime CTU ally and clergy member Rev. Will Hall (6th Ward), community organizer Ronnie Mosley (21st Ward), and community organizer and LSC member Angela Clay (46th Ward).
The CTU had a very effective week in the Illinois legislature. Three pieces of CTU legislation passed the Illinois House late last week, and the Union and our legislative allies are positioning a fourth to move forward. These bills impact our ability to further organize workers in charter schools, address staffing shortages, and direct the State Board of Education to assess the educator evaluation system in Illinois.
What a week! This week, mainstream media gave equal attention to a billionaire and millionaire endorsement of Paul Vallas (Ken Griffin and Willie Wilson) as the endorsement of our own Brandon Johnson by 45,000 workers from SEIU local 1.
Illinois State Representative Delia Ramirez in the 3rd Congressional District, and businessman and activist Jonathan Jackson in the 1st, lead a number of election night wins for CTU-endorsed candidates.
