CHICAGO—A statement from the Chicago Teachers Union on the recently released Chicago Public Schools Budget Framework:
“Time and again, educators and school personnel across this city have been called to do more with less. And now is the time for that to change. Since bargaining our contract in 2019, the CTU has been laser-focused on ensuring that our classrooms are safe, welcoming and thriving places for our students and their families. And while it is promising to see investments made by CPS in our schools, CPS leadership must prioritize sustainability and collaboration going forward—especially as the budgets are implemented across the city.
“No school should see cuts in the coming school year. Yet, we remain concerned that the district’s current budgeting framework—student-based budgeting—places the schools most in need at the highest risk of losing out.
“We believe that CPS must prioritize hiring by placing a school nurse a social worker, and appropriate paraprofessional supports in every school building. We need an equity-focused facilities plan that prioritizes modernizing our city’s school buildings and ensuring they all have working HVAC. And most importantly, our students and educators deserve wise investments in an educator pipeline and paid family leave for school employees so that CPS can recruit and maintain high-quality school personnel.
“With so much at stake for our students and community, we look forward to working with CPS to ensure that we close the $1.4 billion state funding gap for our schools.”
