Chicago Teachers Union holds 'walk-in' as COVID-era school relief funds expire

Over 150 schools across Chicago joined in on a "national walk-in" to demand more funding COVID relief funds expire Monday.

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The Chicago Teachers Union said districts across the state will face severe budget shortfalls if officials don't act fast.

The group spoke outside Mollison Elementary School in Bronzeville on Monday morning. Organizers said the school has the highest vacancy rate in the city and has been on the "closure list" twice.

Schools across the country are set to lose $200 billion dollars in federal pandemic funding.

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"We just need the support, we need the funding. We got an email last week saying we're going to have to start buying our own copy paper," Mollison Elementary Teacher Alayne Pierce-Collins said.

Teachers at Benito Juarez High School in Pilsen are also worried about the lack of bilingual support staff, inadequate facilities, and cuts to extracurriculars like arts education will harm students.

CPS serves 20,000 new English Language Learners, a growing number of homeless students, and over 76% of students from low-income families.

They are the ones, organizers say, who stand to lose critical services like social workers, librarians, arts, and after-school activities as federal support disappears.

The final $122 billion phase of the Elementary and Secondary School Emergency Relief fund (ESSER), a part of the ARP law signed by President Joe Biden in March 2021, was distributed to state and local education agencies to reopen schools and promote physical health, safety and mental health and well-being.

In total, that funding and two prior installments of ESSER during the 2020 pandemic is roughly $190 billion.

ChicagoPublic Schools CEO Pedro Martinez responded to teachers demands at an event this morning:

"Our plan is going to be to ensure our elected officials how were using the resources the gains we continue to make and really showing them the investment in CPS is working," he said.

READ ALSO | Chicago Board of Education takes no action on CPS CEO at meeting, halts school closures before 2027

Teachers called on Governor JB Pritzker and other elected officials to fund Illinois public schools.

The district is facing a $500 million shortfall.

ABC News contributed to this report.