Steinmetz Fundraiser Seeks to Stop Abuse of Teacher Delegate & LSC Rep
The Steinmetz teachers are raising money to help pay legal costs for a defamation lawsuit filed by the school delegate and Local School Council teacher rep against another non-union staff member who is closely aligned to an allegedly abusive principal.
“As those of us at the February 18, 2025, union meeting at Steinmetz saw in a well-documented presentation, false and anonymous accusations made by (at least) one person in our building escalated to administrative action against our Chicago Teachers Union delegate Gina Szulkowski and Local School Council representative Vince Caputi,” the GoFundMe page stated.
“The attack on their jobs and reputations is breathtakingly unfair, as in their roles as our representatives. They've only pushed for better policies and contract enforcement to benefit our whole school. While they've filed a defamation lawsuit, the main perpetrator against them, clearly discovered through legal subpoenas, remains in a leadership position.”
Steinmetz teacher Sharon Schmidt - the widow of the late George Schmidt who founded Substance News - organized the fundraiser to protect her colleagues. She said JROTC instructor MSG Cornell Davis, who is not a CTU member, has repeatedly accused CTU Delegate Gina Szulkowski and LSC Rep Vince Caputi of racism. Szulkowski and Caputi’s presentation on Feb. 18, 2025 showed how Steinmetz Principal Anna Vilchez has used the racist allegations against the school delegate and LSC rep.
Principal Vilchez attempted to interfere with Schmidt for organizing the GoFundMe page which has raised $6,140 by stating she did not have permission to use the school's name or image of a space in the school on her GoFundMe page.
Schmidt, who is well versed in fighting for teachers rights’ against abusive administrations from her years reporting with George Schmidt and myself for Substance News, knew that this was nonsense and ignored her directive to remove the image and name. The Principal then sent Schmidt a notice of disciplinary hearing.
The fight at Steinmetz is a classic case of a strong union delegate fighting the administration to follow the contract. Szulkowski has filed many grievances over the years and has been outspoken in her defense of her fellow union members, an extraordinary feat in today’s world of fear and intimidation that prevents most people from speaking out against abusive bosses.
Schmidt said the principal has used Davis’s repeated false accusations about them in his own created flyers to go after her critics. Szulkowski and Caputi have been suspended, lost after school jobs, hit with punitive scheduling and threatened with being fired, Schmidt said.
Schmidt said the principal has used the non-union staff member Davis's repeated false accusations at an LSC meeting, in email messages using a fake name, and from his own created flyers to go after her critics. Vilchez suspended Szulkowski during an investigation of her unfounded accusation of assault, which resulted in the loss of Szulkowski's position at After School Matters. Vilchez also changed Szulkowski's teaching schedule, ending the award-winning art teacher's ceramics program. Vilchez had Caputi investigated by the EEOC and has pushed for his firing.
If you speak out against abuse, you will pay for it!
“Gina and Vince's fight continues,” GoFundMe states. “Please sacrifice a little cash to help. They've sacrificed so much on behalf of us. BTW: They did not suggest this fundraiser, but we know they could use financial assistance. Lawsuits are expensive.”
To donate you can click on GoFundMe!
Why is it that you never cover the mass firing of Black educators?
CAUSE has been on the front lines since 2009. We've been featured in the Sun-Times, Tribune, Fox News, WGN, CBS, and ABC — yet not a word from you. We covered 125 schools across the South Side and even helped Karen Lewis get elected. But those who supported CORE from the beginning have been pushed out and replaced — often by those who worked against us, or who aren't even educators.
We’re not asking for coverage. We’re in federal court right now fighting for Black veteran tenured educators who were discarded — not just by CPS, but by CTU itself. We don't need a union to speak for us. We need to train our people to speak for themselves and to stand firm against any organization — union or otherwise — that upholds systemic racism.
CAUSE isn't going anywhere. We’re changing the outcome, with or without the spotlight.
Why is it that you never cover the mass firing of Black educators?
CAUSE has been on the front lines since 2009. We've been featured in the Sun-Times, Tribune, Fox News, WGN, CBS, and ABC — yet not a word from you. We covered 125 schools across the South Side and even helped Karen Lewis get elected. But those who supported CORE from the beginning have been pushed out and replaced — often by those who worked against us, or who aren't even educators.
We’re not asking for coverage. We’re in federal court right now fighting for Black veteran tenured educators who were discarded — not just by CPS, but by CTU itself. We don't need a union to speak for us. We need to train our people to speak for themselves and to stand firm against any organization — union or otherwise — that upholds systemic racism.
CAUSE isn't going anywhere. We’re changing the outcome, with or without the spotlight.