Education
CPS Reaches Deal With CTU to Hold May Day Classes, Allow Students to Attend Afternoon Rally
(WTTW News)
Chicago Public Schools will hold classes on May 1 after reaching an agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union that will allow students and staff to attend a rally as part of the annual “May Day” labor holiday.
The announcement comes after a push by the CTU and some Board of Education members to close schools and allow for demonstrations that day.
“This agreement preserves the classroom time students deserve and respects our staff and families who must be able to trust CPS to uphold the academic school year calendar,” CPS CEO Macquline King said in a statement. “At the same time, the agreement honors the proud history of civic action in Chicago and beyond.”
The CTU in a statement Friday acknowledged that while classes will be in session, CPS has agreed to declare May 1 as a day of civic action, allowing educators to “organize across the city, and to engage our students in civic action and solidarity.”
“Many CTU members have already been planning school-based, regional, and city-wide events or requested the day off and you should continue with your plans,” the union said in a message to its members.
The CTU said it has an agreement with CPS in which the school district has pledged to provide buses for field trips of students and educators to attend an afternoon May Day rally in Union Park.
That agreement also stated CPS will not retaliate against students or staff who participate in May Day, according to the union, while the district has committed that future May Days that fall during the work week will be declared as teacher-directed professional development days.
“We’re grateful to have a Mayor who puts working people front and center in his agenda who brought all parties together to find agreement,” the CTU said in its statement. “And we’re proud to be part of a school district that recognizes the responsibility of educators to stand up for our students, support them in finding their voice, and to not sit on the sidelines of history when the people of this country finally say ‘enough’ to the abuses from the White House.”
CPS said participation in any May 1 local events is completely voluntary and at the discretion of school leaders. No student nor staff member is obligated to participate. State law allows students in grades 6 to 12 one excused absence per school year to participate in a “civic event,” CPS said, but parental permission must be provided to their school in advance.
The union’s House of Delegates — its largest governing body — approved a resolution last month seeking “full support” from the Board of Education and Mayor Brandon Johnson to declare May 1 as a “Day of Civic Action.”
But King pushed back against those efforts, demanding classes not be canceled while stating her belief that “every minute in the classroom is vital for our students.”
When pressed this week about the potential for classes to be canceled, Johnson — a former CTU organizer —stated “May 1 is happening.”
“We are pleased all parties are working together to ensure school communities can participate in commemorating International Workers Day," Johnson said in a statement Friday. "Encouraging participating allows Chicagoans to honor our history while advocating for our future. We look forward to a day of meaningful solidarity and community resistance to the forces trying to tear us apart."
King said if Board of Education members — a majority of whom were appointed by Johnson — sought to cancel May 1 classes, “they should convene a special Board meeting for a formal vote on this matter as soon as possible.”
To this point, no such meeting has been scheduled, though the board is set to meet for its regular monthly meeting next Thursday.
