Chicago Teachers Union-Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff (CTU-ACTS) members and supporters rallied outside of the Chicago Board of Education last week in a continued fight for equitable funding. Union charter educators in 33 charter schools with expiring contracts are battling operators for equal pay, adequate staffing and educational justice. Their employers have received massive funding increases over the past two years. But that money is not yet reaching classrooms, while charter operators spend millions of those public dollars on ‘administration’ — including salaries and benefits for top brass, according to the CTU-ACTS. Union charter educators have threatened to strike to win educational equity, in what would be the first strike of a charter operator in the nation’s history. CTU charter educators are demanding:

– Improvements in working conditions, especially staffing and special education;

– Restorative justice, sanctuary schools and culturally relevant curricula;

– Pay commensurate with community standards.