Chicago Teachers Union members are on strike at two CPS charter schools operated by Instituto del Progreso Latino, the union announced early Tuesday morning.
A nonprofit based in the Lower West Side community area, Instituto has refused to meet educators’ demands regarding “special education staffing levels, … educators’ rights and sanctuary protections for immigrant students and employees,” according to CTU.
In a statement sent by Chief Operating Officer Carlos Jaramillo, Instituto said the organization has never denied students, staff members or community members sanctuary protections and that it “fiercely object(s) to any such rhetoric.”The charter operator said it pushed back on a union request that “members who lose work authorization have their jobs open for three years from the date of separation, which is unreasonable.” After reaching tentative agreements on several union proposals over the last four days, Instituto said it was “deeply disappointed” with the union’s decision to strike.
“No one wants to strike, but Instituto has not made progress on key demands teachers have raised to protect our students,” Jen Conant, the chair of CTU’s Charter Division, said in a union press release. “This could have easily been avoided if the Instituto was willing to fund the baseline services that our students deserve and are legally entitled to.”
At Instituto Health and Science Career Academy and Instituto Justice Leadership Academy, the two schools where teachers launched picket lines early Tuesday morning, CTU represents a total of 48 employees, cumulatively serving 600 students, according to the union’s press release. Across the two locations, around 100 students attended classes Tuesday, Instituto said.
Both schools face chronic teacher shortages, with all special education teachers quitting at the start of the school year, “fed up with the school’s lack of resources and rampant mismanagement,” CTU said.
“Lacking provisions for fair wages that would address the school’s bilingual and special education teacher shortage is a key part of current negotiations,” the union said in a press release, noting that Instituto serves a Latino population as CPS continues to receive an influx of newcomer students.
Students also go without English, science and math teachers, Spanish teacher and CTU member Eva Arcentales said at a morning news conference. “Our students are not learning …and also they are not prepared for college. This is not fair for our community.” Arcentales, a founding teacher of the school, added, “When we created this school, the goal for us was to give the community, especially the Latino community, the opportunity to be successful in Chicago Public Schools.”
There are more than 10 classes without regular teachers, said Instituto parent Martha Rivas. “We don’t want to see any more good teachers and counselors leave.”
Amid charter contract renewals in January, CPS extended Instituto Justice and Leadership Academy’s contract by only one year, compared with three-year and four-year renewals offered other charter schools with expiring contracts. Last year, the school did not meet any district standards in academic, financial or operational performance, or in meeting the needs of special education students and English learners and reducing discipline.
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While the charter school met financial standards this year, it is in financial remediation, Mikolajczyk added. “We have concerns regarding the communication of academic and operational performance to the Instituto Board, which would impact financial decisions, including the allocation of funding … for staffing and student services,” she said.CTU claims that Instituto has mismanaged funds CPS has provided the charter operator, retaining a quarter of the money the district provides in the form of rent and management fees. Instituto said its financials are fully audited and reflect routine expenses.
At a news conference Tuesday morning, Ald. Michael Rodriguez, 22nd, chair of the workforce development committee and Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez, 25th, voiced their support of the teachers on strike.
“Every time you fight for your students and your community, we will fight with you,” Rodriguez said.
Students are being deprived, said Instituto, adding that it will provide educational programming, including English as a second language classes, academic support and meals while teachers are on the picket line. “Education is a right and strikers should leave our students out of their politics,” Instituto said.The union has been able to negotiate contracts with other charter operators and school staffing has stabilized as a result, said CTU president Stacy Davis Gates. But without fair pay to retain teachers and chronic, unreasonably short staffing, educators have been left with no choice but to strike, she said. “For people who are taking a day of (docked) pay … that means people love this space. They are willing to throw down to save this space.”