In midst of contract negotiations, CTU president takes aim at CPS CEO, governor

CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) - The head of the Chicago Teachers Union says State lawmakers and officials who are balking at more funds for Chicago schools should realize that other districts are in the same boat.

Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates says the union, the City and the teachers union are in agreement that the schools are underfunded. The situation will get worse for Chicago and other districts across the state when federal relief funds dry up.

But, she says the problem is that Schools CEO Pedro Martinez won’t say what he’ll do if the state fails to approve adequate funding:

“If you can’t find a teachers contract, it means you cannot fund schools, and if you cannot fund schools then we have to beg the question to Pedro: Are you trying to close schools? Are you going to rob schools of staffing and faculty? What’s going to happen to Chicago Public Schools under his leadership?” Davis Gates asks.

The Chicago Sun-Times has reported that Mayor Johnson is setting the stage for removing Martinez from that position.

Mayor Johnson, school officials and the Chicago Teachers Union have pleaded with state lawmakers and Governor Pritzker to provide adequate funding to keep Chicago’s school district from falling off a fiscal cliff. The Governor says he would like to do more.

Davis Gates says it doesn’t match the needs or the fact that Chicago is the economic engine for the state.

“Number one, for the governor to say that he’s not going to give the schools a bail out is an unfortunate use of language, for sure. Number two, how is it that the kids in Chicago do not reap the benefit of the economy that their families helped to power that helps the entire region?” Davis Gates said.

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