CTU Provides Hope at Chicago Board of Ed April Meeting
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Stacy Davis Gates spoke first during public participation at the Chicago Board of Education April 23, 2023 Meeting about the sudden closing of Hope Learning Charter Academy.
Her presence marked the CTU takeover of the Chicago Board of Education after its very own organizer Brandon Johnson was elected Chicago Mayor. It is the Mayor who runs the Chicago Public Schools after Mayor Richard Daley changed the law in 1995 to install Mayoral control.
Mayor Johnson will still have control over the Board of Education in terms of appointments of trustees until it transitions to a fully-elected school board in 2027.
Gates said that the Hope charter school closed right after all its staff voted to unionize. The charter which specializes in educating special education students told teachers that low enrollment was the reason, yet they had just been issued a four year renewal. They are scheduled to close at the end of this school year.
“This is the collateral when a contract is broken with a charter operator,” Gates told the Board of Ed trustees. “We now have to figure out how to pick the pieces back up.”
Parent after teacher after staff member then pleaded with the Board of Ed to do something for the students to keep their hopes alive. One parent even broke down and had to stop talking, holding back a flood of tears as she related how devastating the closure has been. She said her child was diagnosed with autism but is now verbal thanks to the school.
“I am appalled, I am angry and I am frustrated, and I am hurt!” thundered one parent. “Hope has been a gem in his life for my grandson. All of his needs have been met in that building. Why would you close it?”
Jen Conant, the CTU Charter Director, spoke to the Board about the problems with charters, including refusing to give its financial proposals and claiming they own the lesson plans teachers use. She said too many are in it just for the money - management salaries and to turn a profit.
“This is what school choice has brought us,” Conant said. “An abandoned school and a school community in chaos. We’re asking to keep the (Hope) community whole and merge it with another school in the district.”
While the CTU and its allies dominated the board’s public participation, a couple of charter advocates spoke about the wonders of their charter school. Charters represented the billionaire education reform movement 10 years ago when Race to the Top threatened to privatize public education and destroy teachers unions. Charter school backers once dominated the public participation mics and trashed the neighborhood schools.
Chicago’s corporate-run school board once envisioned a charter dominated city similar to New Orleans where Hurricane Katrina allowed the city to destroy the public schools and replace them with charters. Former CEO Arne Duncan and the Chicago Tribune wished for a Hurricane Katrina in Chicago so that the public schools would likewise be swept away.
The tables have turned!
A mother at Hamline School told the board the school is not safe for her two honor roll students who are among a only a handful of black students in the Latino school, citing rude comments by a security guard, and when she made complaints they threatened retaliation.
One speaker who identified herself as an education researcher in the city complained about the Illinois State Board of Education and its harsh testing accountability that continues to harm black and brown schools. She quoted Mayor Brandon Johnson who said that when the state uses the term probation for schools so many times it makes it sound like the students are criminals.
Michael Brunson, the former CTU Recording Secretary, who lost to Stacy Davis Gates when CORE slated her to run as president to succeed Jesse Sharkey and he ran on a different slate, made yet another Chicago School Board appearance to show he’s not about to concede the limelight he once held as a former CTU officer.
He spoke once again about Local School Councils, this time about the dire situation at Harlan High School where the LSC was stripped of its rights by CPS and now they cannot evaluate or hire the principal despite escalating violence inside the school building.
“In the beginning of March students in ski masks barged into a classroom and assaulted the teacher and students,” Brunson said. “There was a series of fights of up to a dozen in the school and this happens on a regular basis.”
He asked the Board of Ed trustees to restore the LSC’s powers so that they can elect a principal and improve the school that has been losing students. One school board member reacted to Brunson’s comments by affirming what he said when she visited the school and that they are working on the problem.
Brunson, who wore a sleek long sleeve tight black shirt, may be making another move to enter the political arena despite his retirement. His flashy smile brought back memories of the times he spoke on strike lines and at House of Delegates meetings in his flashy silver suits.
Some say he may be interested in running as a retired teacher trustee for the Teachers Pension Fund.
Natasha Carlson, an active teacher delegate who speaks often at House of Delegates meeting on behalf of Special Education issues, addressed the Board meeting remotely to address students with disabilities and their rights. She complained about her school suffering cuts in teacher positions while adding on more administrators which they do not need. She also spoke out against the new CPS accountability plan which unfairly punishes schools for attendance.
The Board Trustees addressed the Hope Charter closure at the end of the public participation period when CPS staff said they too were surprised about the sudden announcement to close the charter school. They said it was irresponsible, but they were working on a transition process for the students, teachers and parents. Most of the students will be able to transfer to Brown Elementary School which is very close. The teachers will be guaranteed to continue to teach in CPS after talks with the CTU.
Board President Miguel Del Valle addressed the issue of sustainable schools which the CTU is passionate about. He said all schools should be able to offer after school and weekend activities and be able to hook up with community partners, not just a select few (he took the words right out of my mouth!). He said one of his concerns was that not all partners are a good fit. “We want this model to be included in as many schools as possible.”
Del Valle was elected a state senator against the Chicago Machine under Mayor Richard Daley and he was a part of the Harold Washington victory when the city elected the first African American Mayor. He ran for Mayor against Rahm Emanuel in 2011 after Daley retired. Daley announced the end of his long reign right after CORE defeated the old UPC ruling party, thus ending Daley’s years of labor peace which came at a huge price for teachers. The old CTU did little to stop Daley’s massive attack on the public schools and the union during the launch of his Renaissance 2010 privatization program which aimed to close 100 public schools and replace them with non-union charters. Some speculate that Daley also fired Mayoral Candidate and former CPS CEO Paul Vallas in 2001 after PACT Debbie Lynch defeated the UPC’s Tom Reece, who led the union sellout of the teachers. Unlike CORE, Reece famously said the only strike he wanted to see was in a bowling alley.