Teachers and Staff at Charter Schools
Charter Contracts
Charter headlines for the week of May 31, 2021
Members at Urban Prep voted unanimously to strike unless management comes to the table with a more reasonable offer. CTU pressure pushed ASPIRA to retract non-renewal notices for Union members. Epic Academy terminated four of the most active CTU members on the bargaining team, prompting members to prepare to strike. Youth Connections Leadership Academy has reversed course on closing the school. CTU pushed the General Assembly to close a loophole that allowed ChiArts and other contract schools to skip contributions to the Chicago Teachers Pension Fund.
Staff at two more charter schools announce their intent to join the CTU
Charter headlines for the week of March 15, 2021
CTU has settled a grievance over class size violations at ASPRIA resulting in $61,000 in awards for members. We are in preliminary discussions with CICS and Epic over reopening in the fall. And we are negotiating a fourth quarter reopening plan with Acero focusing on the importance of equity as well as safety.
Charter headlines for the week of March 8, 2021
After two-days of direct action, Passages Charter School members won a reopening agreement that meets their demands on all outstanding issues. CTU-ACTS leaders met recently to strategize a coordinated bargaining campaign. Members at Namaste ratified their back-to-work agreement and Latino Youth members marked their 29th week of refusing the boss’ back to in-person work order.
Charter school headlines for the week of Feb. 22, 2021
Asian Human Services, the owner of Passages Charter School, has abruptly broken off negotiations but members remain united. Aspira members have reached a tentative agreement over the move of ASPIRA Early College High School into the ASPIRA Haugan Middle School building. CTU members at Instituto Justice Leadership Academy are raising objections about the school’s disturbing lack of cleanliness. Educators at Latino Youth High School continue to stand strong in their 28th week of refusing the boss’ return to in-person work order. And we are close to a tentative reopening agreement with Namaste.
Answers for Charter Educators Without a Union
Don’t have a union, but think you might need one? Get answers to common questions about education unions and learn how to explore your options to unite and empower your colleagues.
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 CTU, call us at (312) 467-8852 or complete the form at the bottom of the page.
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
CTU-ACTS contracts are provided on this website’s contracts page alongside the district contract.
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
EPIC Educators
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 Acero Schools (f/k/a UNO)
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
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.
