Teachers and Staff at Charter Schools
Teachers and staff at unionized charter schools face many of the same issues as at district-run schools. On top of that, their schools are run by private corporations and non-profit groups that often diminish accountability while adding bureaucracy.
Is it possible for charter school teachers and staff to form unions?
Charter school teachers and staff have the same right to form a union as all public school employees. In many states, charter school teachers have begun to organize and bargain collectively for union contracts, just like traditional public school employees. Chicago charter school educators have been leading the way in this movement!
What is the CTU Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff (ACTS)?
CTU-ACTS is a division of charter school employees organized by the CTU. The alliance’s goal is to mobilize charter school employees around issues of common concern, such as providing the best possible education to all children, regardless of background; strengthening our profession; expanding professional development; improving the conditions of teaching and learning; and bolstering our voice in school-level decision-making.
Know someone that may be interested in forming a union at their charter school?
CTU-ACTS is helping charter teachers across the city to unionize, and CTU is proud to call them our brothers and sisters. CTU- ACTS knows that what’s best for the educators and students at charter schools is not always what the charter operator CEO wants to hear. Charter teachers have said loud and clear that a formal and respected collective voice has let them make their schools better places to teach and better places for students to learn. If you know a charter school teacher or support staff member interested in starting a union, have them email Caroline Staerk, call her at (312) 467-8852 or complete the form at the bottom of the page.
Current Organizing
Noble Network of Charter Schools
Go to the Union of Noble Educators (UNE) website or call (312) 738-3010 if you’re interested in learning more or want to join the organizing efforts!
Know Your Rights
Download our Know Your Rights document to learn your right to organize and inform others about their own.
Charter School Councils Within the CTU-ACTS Division
A. Council of Educators (ACE)
ASPIRA Antonia Pantoja Alternative HS
ASPIRA Business and Finance
ASPIRA Early College High School
ASPIRA Haugan Middle School
Alliance of Progressive Teachers at Latino Youth (APTLY)
YCCS-Latino Youth HS
ChicagoQuest Union (CQU)
CICS – ChicagoQuest North
Civitas Federation of Teachers (CFT)
CICS – Northtown
CICS – Wrightwood
CICS – Ralph Ellison
Independent Federation of Teachers (IFE)
Instituto Health Sciences Career Academy
Leadership Academy ACTS
YCCS-Youth Connection Leadership Acad HS
Organization of Namaste Educators (ONE)
Namaste Charter School
Passages Teachers Union (PTU)
Asian Human Services – Passages Charter School
Rudy Lozano Alliance of Social Justice Educators (“RLASJE”)
Instituto – Justice Lozano
United Educators for Justice (UEJ) at UNO/Acero Schools
Educators at Acero (f/k/a UNO) Charter Schools
- Bartolomé de las Casas
- Brighton Park
- Carlos Fuentes
- Esmeralda Santiago
- Major Hector P. Garcia HS
- Octavio Paz Campus
- Officer Donald J. Marquez
- PFC Omar E. Torres
- Roberto Clemente
- Rogers Park
- Rufino Tamayo
- Sandra Cisneros
- Soccer Academy Elementary School
- Soccer Academy High School
- SPC Daniel Zizumbo
United for Scholar Artists (USA)
ChiArts HS
Urban Prep Union (UPU)
Urban Prep Academy for Young Men – Bronzeville
Urban Prep Academy for Young Men – Englewood
Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men – West
Charter Contracts
Winning recognition was important. Winning a strong contract is essential. Study your contract and discuss your rights with coworkers. Together, Union members and staff can make our schools better places to teach and learn.
If Urban Prep West can close, no school is safe
Closure of campus serving African-American young men is the latest transgression in the wholesale removal of Blacks from the city of Chicago.
UNO/Acero ‘unfair labor practice’ charges are desperate and wrong
Rally to Win the Acero Strike
Sunday, December 9, 2018 at 1pm show solidarity with CTU teachers, paraprofessionals and support staff at 15 charter schools run by the Acero charter network formerly known as UNO. They are in the midst of their historic strike—the first against a charter operator in U.S. history.
Strikers to hit Burke’s ward office and reinforce Paz picket after assault on striker
Picketing at 15 UNO/Acero sites enters fourth day, as clouted CEO remains MIA at bargaining.
CTU charter educator strike against UNO/Acero enters second day
Picketing continues at 15 UNO/Acero sites, culminating in a rally downtown at the Chicago Board of Education.
Interested in Organizing a Union at a Charter School?
Organizers with the AFT charter organizing project are always ready to contact you confidentially. Fill out the form below and only use a personal email address (never your work email). Our organizers will contact you promptly.
