On January 11, 2021, the Illinois Senate ratified HB2275, a bill that reinstates the bargaining rights taken from unions representing CPS employees back in 1995. The only remaining step in the repeal of the onerous 1995 language is for Governor J.B. Pritzker to sign the legislation. Send Gov. Pritzker a message urging him to request the legislation from House Speaker Welch so he can sign it.
Get your state senator’s phone number. Call their Springfield office and tell them to “Vote Yes on both HB2267 and HB2275 and to restore CTU’s bargaining rights and bring democracy to Chicago Public Schools.” Then call Senate President Don Harmon at 217-782-8176 and tell him to call the bills and vote Yes!
Get your state senator’s phone number. Call and tell them to “Vote Yes on HB2275 and restore CTU’s bargaining rights.” Then call Senate President Don Harmon at 708-848-2002 and tell him to call the bill and vote Yes!
The Illinois Educational Labor Relation Board (IELRB) issued a preliminary ruling not to impose an injunction, yet, against CPS’s plan to force Pre-K and Special Education cluster students and educators on Thursday, December 17. This development requires a new call to action. While there will still be an IELRB hearing on the full case, we must urge elected officials to raise their voices for the safety of our school communities.
Chicago is an outlier in Illinois as a major district whose school board is not directly elected by the people whose welfare it is meant to serve. HB 2267, which has passed the House and currently awaits recognition and vote in the Senate, would fix that situation and finally bring an important measure of democracy to Chicago Public Schools.
We don’t need a tax system that is unfair and places more burden on working class families. We need a YES the Fair Tax amendment.
The abbreviated session impacted a range of education topics, such as school funding, remote learning conditions and extended deadlines for licensure renewal.
We look forward to working with Gov. Pritzker and the General Assembly to continue increasing funding to CPS and moving toward real stability and predictability for parents, students and school communities.
The conditions for improvement were laid here in Chicago by community groups and labor organizations who were clear that the wealthy should pay their fair share; that we must invest in child care and public schools; that we must reform our criminal justice system; and that we must center justice and equity in how Illinois moves forward.
