Chicago Teachers Strike In Desperate Hope Of Increasing Education Budget


Chicago Teacher’s Union (CTU) members have been working since June 30, 2015 without a contract. They have not received the salary increases mandated in their previous contract.

Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is attempting to cope with a 1.1 billion dollar deficit this fiscal year. All of this is part of an epically long and torturous budget process that shows no sign of resolution. Republican Governor Bruce Rauner has been holding out since the start of the fiscal year on July 1st. This means that Illinois has failed to pay its bills for the past 9 months. Both sides of the tug-o-war are hopelessly dug in, neither willing to give an inch in spite of the disaster unfolding before them.

What is the governor hoping to gain? It will come as no surprise to find that he has proposed business incentives and tax loopholes for the corporate citizens of the state. In the meantime, he is failing to fund the education of its young, mostly poor citizens.

The governor has also attempted to close the budget gap in the state by reducing state support for many of the public sector pensions. He wants to tell retired teachers, who worked for years and saved into the pension system, that they are out of luck, because the state is out of money. Luckily, this terrible plan was rejected by the State Supreme Court as unconstitutional.

In response to the ongoing impasse and continued cuts to education and to social programs, the CTU has called for a Day of Action today, April 1st.  Teachers and support staff will strike and picket outside of the schools. Thousands of teachers began to gather at 6:30 this morning to form picket lines. Supporters are wearing the color red in solidarity with the educators.

Teachers around the country are also wearing red in support of their colleagues, encouraged via social media by groups such as the Badass Teachers Association. The CTU is also being supported by professors at Chicago colleges and charter school union members.  In addition to teachers, the strikers have been joined by labor unions and by members of the Fight for 15 coalition, working to raise the minimum wage in Illinois.

The day will be marked by several demonstrations at schools around the city. At 4PM a large rally will be held in Chicago’s famous loop, as the strikers hope to gain the attention of as many local people as possible.

We will have to wait and see whether today’s actions achieve their goal and move the city of Chicago, and the state of Illinois to think as much about the kids as they do about the corporations.

Featured image by Shutter Stutter, available through a Creative Commons 2.0 license.

Karen is a retired elementary school teacher with many years of progressive activism behind her. She is the proud mother of three young adults who were all arrested with Occupy Wall Street. To see what she writes about in her spare time, check out her blog at "Empty Nest, Full Life"