社区黑料

Get stories like this delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for 社区黑料 Newsletter

Chicago Public Schools teachers will host assemblies, history lessons and music performances before transporting middle and high school students to an afternoon rally May 1 as part of a communitywide day of civic action.

Following weeks of discussion prompted by the Chicago Teachers Union, the district April 16 to let schools voluntarily participate in International Workers Day. Superintendent Macquline King required classes be in session but students can participate in the union鈥檚 to the rally and march near downtown Chicago, where participants will advocate for increased state education funding and protest the Trump administration.

Union President Stacy Davis Gates said at an April 21 webinar that the May Day event was originally part of contract negotiations but was left out of the final tentative agreement. The union had with the district April 6 saying the agreement wasn’t being honored.

The planned activities will celebrate union workers, bring attention to the district鈥檚 projected $1 billion budget deficit and protest recent government actions such as immigration enforcement raids, according to the between the union and district. 

鈥淲hat are the politics of the Chicago Teachers Union? Our politics are school funding and the maintenance of our democracy,鈥� Davis Gates said at the webinar. 鈥淲e have to strategically take the opportunity to engage our priority stakeholders, students and families, to the issues that are threatening our school communities. And we also have to say that we need the funding in order to even keep up with what we have now.鈥�

The union the district and Mayor Brandon Johnson to greenlight closing schools for a full day. Johnson of the idea early on but agreed with King’s decision to keep classes in session. 

鈥淲e are pleased all parties are working together to ensure school communities can participate in commemorating International Workers Day,鈥� Johnson said in a . 鈥淪chools will remain open for instruction, while multiple opportunities will be provided for those who wish to participate in this day of civic action both inside and outside of the classroom.鈥�

Staff and students can鈥檛 be penalized for leaving school to attend May Day events, union Vice President Jackson Potter said during the webinar. The union told 社区黑料 in an email that because the district has committed to providing buses and bag lunches for students at 100 schools to visit the afternoon rally and march, participation numbers will be 鈥渆asily in the thousands.鈥�

The May 1 field trips fall under an Illinois that allows students in grades 6 through 12 to miss one day of school a year to attend a civic engagement event. 

鈥淔or students in grades K-5, there is no provision for excused absences specifically for civic engagement events during the school day,鈥� Mary Fergus, the district鈥檚 media relations director, told 社区黑料. 鈥淓lementary schools are expected to operate normally, and students are required to attend school as usual.鈥�

The district it鈥檚 working closely with school principals to track staff absences on May 1, and central office administrators will fill in for absent staff if needed. Its reserve of 10,000 substitutes are already being notified that they might be needed. The city bus system will help with transportation if there aren鈥檛 enough district buses available.

Morning classes will consist of civic engagement activities, and students who don鈥檛 attend the rally will get similar instruction in the afternoon alongside their regular courses.

Joseph Graciosa, a computer science teacher at Solorio Academy High School, said during the webinar that May 1 at his building will begin with an assembly about the history of May Day and the power of students in education reform. Discussions will highlight the impact of recent immigration raids on the school鈥檚 community.

鈥淯nfortunately, too many of our parents have been taken by ICE, so we’re also having speeches by students who’ve been directly impacted by those,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e’ll have performances by our music, choir, bands, all of our different dance troupes, just celebrating the richness and the beautiful assets that we have in our community and the ways that we’re coming together to unite and fight back against all the atrocities that have happened.鈥�

Liz Winfield, a high school art teacher at Benito Juarez Community Academy, said her building will host an assembly similar to one they had in the fall when a student was detained by ICE. Students will discuss civics topics in a program to be livestreamed from the school gym to other classrooms.

Parents have been speaking out at press conferences and school board meetings about the district鈥檚 upcoming May Day plans, with some voicing concerns that students are being in the union鈥檚 advocacy efforts.

Joshua Weiner, chief strategy officer for , a national organization that protests politics in schools, said at an April 23 that the May Day events are being influenced by a political agenda.

鈥淭he CTU鈥檚 resolution for May Day and the protest span an extraordinary spectrum 鈥� LBGTQ rights, racial justice, taxing the rich, voting rights, immigration 鈥� this is not civics,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 state-sponsored conditioning of children into partisan activism. It is inappropriate to have such a partisan, politically driven union determining school curriculum.鈥�

In an to families, the district said all added instruction and activities on May 1 have to be approved by school principals, align with state standards and be 鈥渘eutral in nature and cannot advance any particular viewpoint.鈥� Davis Gates wrote a arguing that principals can鈥檛 unilaterally reject planned civic lessons for that day and expressing concern that the district isn鈥檛 abiding by its earlier .

鈥淭he union understands that principals at a number of schools and central office clinician managers are rejecting field trip and personal business requests for May 1 in a manner that violates the [agreement] and the labor contract,鈥� Davis Gates wrote. 鈥淭he union expects CPS to abide by its commitments under the [agreement] and will seek all available recourse in the event of violations.鈥�

School board member Ellen Rosenfeld said at the board meeting that she wasn鈥檛 sure how district leaders were going to track what鈥檚 being taught across schools and ensure it matches state standards. King said administrators will collect data on attendance, curriculum and how many people attend the afternoon community events.

鈥淚 have heard from many families and I have heard from staff members that this day might have different historical connotations for some members of our CPS community,鈥� King said at the board meeting. 鈥淎s a public school district that welcomes everyone, we need to respect the diversity of views among our students, families and staff. In the end, I am glad we were able to come to an agreement that acknowledges the importance of civic engagement while persevering the critical instruction time that our students need.鈥�

Did you use this article in your work?

We鈥檇 love to hear how 社区黑料鈥檚 reporting is helping educators, researchers, and policymakers.