GEO Stands in Solidarity with the Chicago Teachers Union
The Graduate Employees’ Organization (GEO) of UIUC stands in solidarity with the Chicago Teachers’ Union (CTU), which is striking not just for a fair contract, but for the welfare of their students.
The Chicago Teachers’ Union has been on strike since Thursday, October 17th after city officials failed to reach a deal during negotiations with Union leadership. CTU, comprised of roughly 25,000 educators, is currently bargaining for far more than just decent pay. They are seeking fully staffed schools; smaller class sizes; and justice for students and families in the form of access to affordable housing, sanctuary schools, restorative justice, and more.
City officials have offered CTU a pay raise of 16% over the next 5 years, but this raise neglects to address the deep and systemic issues within Chicago Public Schools. City officials and their allies have painted the union as demanding too much by wanting more than just a raise. What non-educators fail to realize is that no amount of money can give a teacher the energy they need to educate over thirty kindergarteners. Yes, CTU has demanded smaller class sizes--because thirty-four tiny humans is too many children to educate at once.
And yet, Chicago teachers are expected to do much more than just educate their students. In the absence of school nurses, teachers have stocked up on first-aid equipment and other medical supplies to care for their students’ bodies as much as they care for their minds. CTU is demanding a school nurse in every school because one nurse cannot possibly care for 1400 students. CTU is demanding more school nurses because students need and deserve trained medical professionals in their schools. By neglecting to put a nurse in every school, city officials are actively endangering students with medical disabilities like insulin-dependent diabetes, asthma, and severe allergies. They are also adding to teachers’ already overwhelming workloads.
Despite Mayor Lightfoot’s promises to increase funding for neighborhood schools and hire more social workers, special education case managers, and nurses, city officials refuse to follow through on these promises by putting them in CTU’s contract. We are not the first to ask why--why, when they are supposedly committed to improving public schools, would they neglect to put their promises in writing? Why can Mayor Lightfoot find more than 95 million dollars for a new cop academy, but not money to invest in Chicago students?
GEO admires the work of CTU members, both as fellow workers and for their commitment to education and equity. We support them as they use their right to collective bargaining to uplift the communities they serve even while they improve their own working conditions.
Smaller class sizes
Nurses in every school
Social workers in every school
Libraries and Librarians in every school
More special education professionals
More bilingual teachers and classrooms
Real sanctuary schools
Affordable housing for students and teachers alike
CTU officials have voiced concern that this refusal could indicate the city’s intention to contract out these positions. We join CTU in asking, is this really the best way to make sure students with disabilities, students experiencing trauma outside of school, students with medical conditions — is this really the best way to serve those students? To contract out the care of Chicago students?
The Graduate Employees’ Organization, AFT/IFT Local 6300, AFL-CIO, at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, represents approximately 2,700 Teaching and Graduate Assistants on the UIUC Campus. In November 2009 and in February 2018, over 1,000 GEO members and allies participated in a strike to secure a fair contract and more accessible UIUC campus. With an active presence in the community, the GEO continues to work for high-quality and accessible public education in Illinois.
For more information, please contact geo@uigeo.org. More information can also be found on GEO’s website at www.uiucgeo.org.
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