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.
Our success in Springfield depends on you — call your legislators today.
The Illinois General Assembly has started its spring legislative session, and CTU is there advocating for what our schools need. Our goal is to build on our recent victories and to pass legislation that makes concrete improvements in school governance and oversight and that allows us to be more effective in our work.
Congressman Jesús “Chuy” García wrote to President Biden and Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona about the need for resources and cooperation in reopening schools, echoing the concerns that the Chicago Teachers Union has raised about Mayor Ligghtfoot’s reopening plan. On the same day, 23 state legislators from the Chicago area wrote to the mayor, the Board of Education and CPS leadership urging cooperation, caution and resources in reopening schools.
HB 2275 will restore bargaining rights to CTU and all other CPS unions that were eliminated by the 1995 amendatory act. Both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly have passed it. IL House Speaker Welch needs to send the bill now to Governor Pritzker so he can sign it. Write them both and your state representative to urge action as soon as possible on this bill which can impact the safe reopening agreement under negotiation now between CTU and CPS.
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.
The abbreviated session impacted a range of education topics, such as school funding, remote learning conditions and extended deadlines for licensure renewal.
Please email your state representative and state senator and ask them to support the following legislative proposals for our students and their families.
