Latest news with #StacyDavisGates
CBS News
27-06-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Chicago Public Schools interim CEO says district's deficit is over $200 million more than reported
Chicago Public Schools CEO says district's deficit is over $200 million more than reported Chicago Public Schools CEO says district's deficit is over $200 million more than reported Chicago Public Schools CEO says district's deficit is over $200 million more than reported The interim CEO of Chicago Public Schools said the district's budget deficit is $734 million, more than $200 million more than previously reported. Macqueline King made the announcement at a Thursday school board meeting. Officials said the increase of $205 million from the previously reported $529 million is due to a $175 million payment to a city pension fund that covers some district staff. CPS has yet to finalize a budget, which is typically released at this time of year. The board has 60 days to finalize a budget or face major cuts. Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates recently called on the district to take out a loan to address the shortfall and avoid cuts. She also said the district needs to do more to persuade Illinois lawmakers to provide CPS more money in the annual budget, arguing the state's education funding formula calls for the district to receive $1.2 billion more each year.
Chicago Tribune
25-06-2025
- Politics
- Chicago Tribune
Editorial: Is CTU's playbook coming to a school district near you, Illinoisans?
Most Illinoisans think CTU-style teachers union tactics are limited to Chicago. But will that stay the case? In an estimated 52 school districts across Illinois, contracts with unions affiliated with the Illinois Federation of Teachers are expiring this year. Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates serves as executive vice president at the IFT. So is there reason to worry that other IFT affiliates will adopt Chicago's aggressive 'bargaining for the common good' model? Here's some background. Local teachers unions fall under the umbrella of state- and national-level unions. For example, CTU Local 1 is an affiliate of IFT. IFT is the state affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers, which is one of the two major national teachers unions, the other being the National Education Association. While both are aligned with Democratic causes, AFT is generally more progressive and politically aggressive. Its longtime president, Randi Weingarten, is a political lightning rod. IFT has affiliates all over the state, including Chicago, Quincy, East St. Louis and Peoria, as well as a number of Chicago suburbs. IFT doesn't run local contract negotiations but heavily influences them by providing legal, financial, tactical and ideological support. The Illinois Policy Institute, which analyzed districts' affiliations and negotiation schedules, has argued these districts should be prepared for aggressive negotiation tactics. That's a reasonable concern. After all, we just lived through the most recent CTU contract negotiation, which featured repeated CTU-encouraged attempts by Mayor Brandon Johnson, former CTU organizer and staunch union ally, to fire the CEO of Chicago Public Schools. That CEO, Pedro Martinez, had the temerity to refuse to give in to every one of the union's demands. We still haven't forgotten the tensions that arose from previous negotiations, especially in 2012 when this militant version of the CTU first emerged, waging a prolonged, large-scale strike that saw teachers and CTU supporters take en masse to the streets. More recently, as the latest contract negotiations were just beginning, Davis Gates half-jokingly informed a March 2024 City Club of Chicago audience that the city's moneyed interests ought to be prepared to pony up '$50 billion and 3 cents' to pay for the union's demands. It struck us as poignant that Davis Gates returned to the City Club Monday making similar statements, albeit with somewhat less bravado. What a difference a year makes. The CTU president's extreme message increasingly is falling on deaf ears. The mayor she played such an important role in electing in 2023 is unpopular and struggling to wrangle the City Council to support his priorities. Chicagoans last year elected their own school board members for the first time ever, and CTU's endorsed candidates fared poorly. In short, a union that turned itself into a political machine is itself unpopular and significantly weakened. Teachers unions once could count on majority support from the public. CTU's favorables are well under water, testifying to just how much the union has overreached. On Monday, Davis Gates didn't do herself or her cause any favors with provocative messaging about how Chicago's children are CTU's kids, too. That sort of rhetoric might land better coming from a more traditional teachers union focused mainly on the classroom, but not from this messianic group of ultra-leftists. She also showed a continued disregard for CPS' dismal fiscal situation, pushing once again for reckless borrowing to plug a $529 million budget deficit for the fiscal year that begins July 1. 'These are not math problems,' she said. Actually, they are math problems. And the union's refusal to face hard numbers contributes to the district's ongoing fiscal strain, which ultimately affects classroom conditions. CTU's 'bargaining for the common good' approach extends well beyond wages and benefits. The union's recent demands included climate initiatives like solar panels and electric buses, 10,000 affordable housing units, police-free schools and limits on charter schools — a sweeping political agenda inappropriately sought through union negotiations. In the end — in no small part due to the Chicago voters' rejection of CTU's agenda via the November school board elections — CPS teachers ratified a contract that largely mirrored what CPS leadership had offered for months. Union members' unfortunate reelection a few months ago of Davis Gates as their president only makes it highly likely we'll revisit this radical agenda four years from now in yet another fraught contract negotiation. So here's where we differ with the Illinois Policy argument. We just can't imagine the CTU agenda playing with either school boards or the broader communities in the suburbs and downstate. Time will tell. What will bargaining for the common good look like in downstate Joppa, where an IFT affiliate represents local teachers? That district sits in Massac County, along the Kentucky state line, where 74% of votes cast in 2024 went to President Donald Trump. Or Quincy School District 172, where Trump won nearly 73% of the 2024 vote. 'Trump has picked his side. … He is here to win the relitigation of the Civil War and finish the work of the Confederacy,' Davis Gates said Monday. Equating support for Trump with Confederate sympathizing is inflammatory and likely to alienate residents in the very communities where IFT affiliates will be bargaining. The point we're making is that there's a mismatch between IFT's modus operandi and the politics of many of the suburban and downstate districts where they'll be negotiating soon. Still, in many conservative areas, schools are among the largest employers, making it likelier that, at least on the wages and benefits side of contract negotiations, IFT's influence could mean significant costs for suburban and downstate taxpayers. Downstate teachers aren't nearly as well compensated as Chicago teachers. The median CPS teacher will be paid $98,000 next year. So as these negotiations begin in places politically and culturally distinct from Chicago, local taxpayers and school boards would be wise to pay attention. Attend school board meetings. Ask questions. And learn from Chicago's example.
New York Post
25-06-2025
- Politics
- New York Post
Chicago Teachers Union president suggests children belong to the school system
Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Stacy Davis Gates said that children belong to them while delivering a speech at the City Club of Chicago. 'Baldwin says the children are always ours. Every single one of them, all over the globe. And what comes next is 'CTU thinks your children are its children.' Yes, we do. We do. We do,' Davis Gates said on Monday. Davis Gates cited James Baldwin, a prominent writer and civil rights activist. Davis Gates went on to say, ''CTU thinks all children belong to it. And they're a socialist conspiracy ideology.' Well, I don't know about all that, but we like children. We educate them, we nurture them, we protect them, we support them, we negotiate for them, we create space for them. We even have them in our homes.' Davis Gates was invited to deliver an address at the City Club of Chicago, a public forum where prominent government officials and influential figures speak. Since it was founded in 1903, the forum has hosted speakers from both sides of the political aisle, including President Donald Trump, former President Barack Obama, and former Vice President Mike Pence. 5 Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates speaks at a rally in Chicago, Illinois, on Oct. 7, 2023. Getty Images The Chicago Teachers Union did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Corey DeAngelis, a senior fellow at the American Culture Project and school choice advocate, told Fox News Digital that Chicago's public school system is performing poorly. 'The irony is glaring: if the CTU were a parent, it would lose custody for educational neglect and abuse, given the catastrophic failure of Chicago's public schools,' DeAngelis said. 5 Davis Gates leads a rally with other protesters during the Nationwide May Day Strong Rally on May 1, 2025. Getty Images for May Day Strong Davis Gates previously made headlines for making controversial claims criticizing school choice policies and conservatives. Last year, she told a news radio host that conservatives do not want Black children to read, adding that it is 'part of the oath they take to be right wing.' During contract negotiations with Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Teachers Union reportedly called for over $50 billion to pay for wage hikes along with several other demands. 5 Students arrive for classes at AN Pritzker Elementary School on Jan. 12, 2022. Getty Images 5 A sign for the Chicago Public Schools is displayed on the district's headquarters. Getty Images To put the figure into context, the total base tax receipts for the state of Illinois last year were $50.7 billion. Davis Gates' remarks and CTU contract demands came amid Chicago's enrollment crisis. The Windy City currently faces enrollment struggles with a high price tag for the small number of students attending class. A report authored by ChalkBeat and ProPublica found that 47 schools are operating 'at less than one-third capacity, leading to high costs and limited course offerings.' 5 Students at Nettelhorst Elementary School grab food from a salad bar on March 20, 2006. Getty Images Chicago Public Schools had roughly 325,000 students enrolled this year after losing 70,000 students from a decade ago, according to the report. While the city faces enrollment struggles, the city spends about $18,700 per student. Some schools are 'double or triple' that number, the report stated. Frederick Douglass Academy High School, which enrolled 28 students, costs $93,000 per student, the report also showed. The Chicago Teachers Union did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Fox News' Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
Fox News
24-06-2025
- Politics
- Fox News
Chicago Teachers Union president suggests children belong to the school system
Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Stacy Davis Gates said that children belong to them while delivering a speech at the City Club of Chicago. "Baldwin says the children are always ours. Every single one of them, all over the globe. And what comes next is 'CTU thinks your children are its children.' Yes, we do. We do. We do," Davis Gates said on Monday. Davis Gates cited James Baldwin, a prominent writer and civil rights activist. Davis Gates went on to say, "'CTU thinks all children belong to it. And they're a socialist conspiracy ideology.' Well, I don't know about all that, but we like children. We educate them, we nurture them, we protect them, we support them, we negotiate for them, we create space for them. We even have them in our homes." Davis Gates was invited to deliver an address at the City Club of Chicago, a public forum where prominent government officials and influential figures speak. Since it was founded in 1903, the forum has hosted speakers from both sides of the political aisle, including President Donald Trump, former President Barack Obama, and former Vice President Mike Pence. The Chicago Teachers Union did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Corey DeAngelis, a senior fellow at the American Culture Project and school choice advocate, told Fox News Digital that Chicago's public school system is performing poorly. "The irony is glaring: if the CTU were a parent, it would lose custody for educational neglect and abuse, given the catastrophic failure of Chicago's public schools," DeAngelis said. Davis Gates previously made headlines for making controversial claims criticizing school choice policies and conservatives. Last year, she told a news radio host that conservatives do not want Black children to read, adding that it is "part of the oath they take to be right wing." During contract negotiations with Chicago Public Schools, the Chicago Teachers Union reportedly called for over $50 billion to pay for wage hikes along with several other demands. To put the figure into context, the total base tax receipts for the state of Illinois last year were $50.7 billion. Davis Gates' remarks and CTU contract demands came amid Chicago's enrollment crisis. The Windy City currently faces enrollment struggles with a high price tag for the small number of students attending class. A report authored by ChalkBeat and ProPublica found that 47 schools are operating "at less than one-third capacity, leading to high costs and limited course offerings." Chicago Public Schools had roughly 325,000 students enrolled this year after losing 70,000 students from a decade ago, according to the report. While the city faces enrollment struggles, the city spends about $18,700 per student. Some schools are "double or triple" that number, the report stated. Frederick Douglass Academy High School, which enrolled 28 students, costs $93,000 per student, the report also showed. The Chicago Teachers Union did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
CBS News
24-06-2025
- Business
- CBS News
Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates urges Chicago Public Schools to borrow to avoid spending cuts
Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates on Monday called again for Chicago Public Schools to borrow money to address a $529 million budget deficit. Speaking at the City Club of Chicago, Gates said the Chicago Board of Education should take out a loan to avoid cuts. Davis Gates also said more needs to be done to persuade lawmakers in Springfield to provide CPS more money, arguing the state's education funding formula calls for district to receive $1.2 billion more each year. She also called out some city and state Democrats for denouncing book bans across the country while not supporting the union's efforts to fill library shelves in public schools. "That's why I'm confused when people are frustrated and irritated with the Chicago Teachers Union when they insist on reconstructing school libraries and the schools in Chicago. We don't need dumpsters like they have in Florida if the library doesn't exist in Chicago," she said. The school district's new fiscal year begins July 1, but CPS has yet to announce a plan to balance its budget. CPS interim President Macquline King will lead her first school board meeting on Thursday.
