CTU President Stacy Davis Gates rebukes Trump administration, urges district to prioritize union contract
Questions surrounding the future of the nation's fourth-largest school district should transcend any budgetary shortfalls, Davis Gates told a packed audience at the City Club of Chicago. Several attendees donned red CTU shirts.
'These are not math problems. These are choices between whether students get a math teacher or chemistry teacher or nothing at all,' Davis Gates said. 'Make no mistake, what's happening in (Chicago Public Schools) is connected to a larger national agenda to strip public education down to its bare bones.'
CPS is facing a $529 million deficit for fiscal year 2026, which begins July 1.
Despite the looming deadline, school officials have yet to outline a plan on how to balance the budget. The district also relies on millions of federal grants and reimbursements, which are now in limbo under the Trump administration.
'Donald Trump is dismantling the idea of the common good and community,' Davis Gates said.
Over the course of her hourlong speech, she drew parallels between the Reconstruction Era and the modern challenges of public education. The first reconstruction came after the Civil War, and the second amid the Civil Rights Movement. Now, Davis Gates said, Chicago is on the verge of a third reconstruction as it seeks equity in its schools and in funding.
Davis Gates has helmed the union since July 2022, representing nearly 30,000 teachers, paraprofessionals and school personnel. In May, she was reelected with 64% of the vote, securing another three-year term on the heels of the union's recently-ratified contract.
The contract was settled after nearly a year of bitter back-and-forth between CTU, a close ally of Mayor Brandon Johnson, and district officials. Former schools chief Pedro Martinez had refused the mayor's request to take out a $300 million loan to in part cover the proposed bargaining agreement. Martinez, who was fired in December, left the district this month.
CPS maintains there is enough money to cover the first year of the contract, but still hasn't addressed how it plans to finance the contract over the next three. When Martinez floated the idea of delaying parts of the contract given the district's financial situation, Davis Gates threatened to sue the Chicago Board of Education for unfair labor practices.
Davis Gates again pushed back against any spending reductions Monday.
'It's $529 million, it's $1.2 billion but it's never about what budgets are about,' Davis Gates said. 'The budget and its choices manifest into real impact that our young people get to experience.'
CPS interim President Macquline King is set to lead her first Board of Education meeting Thursday. At the end of the summer, CPS board members could be forced to make millions of spending reductions to shore up the budget, according to an April presentation given to board members and obtained by the Tribune.
The proposed reductions include cuts to the central administrative office and downsizing at individual schools. They could also eliminate more than 1,600 positions.
Meanwhile, the federal government launched an investigation in April related to allegations of discrimination in CPS' Black Student Success Plan. Davis Gates condemned the president's attacks on education and diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives across the nation.
'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.
The path through the chaos, she said, lies in the solidarity coursing through CTU members and throughout Chicago.
'If you lead in the way that I lead, you have zero time for anything but organizing our neighbors, protecting our democracy and resisting chaos,' she said. 'We have to stay focused and clear-minded about our community.'
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