While Chicago Schools Fail Students, Teachers Union Demands Climate Action Contract
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has many demands in their latest salvo in negotiating a new contract with the public schools system.
The Gateway Pundit reported that according to documents leaked to Fox News in May, the $50 billion they are asking for includes a 9% wage hike, fully paid abortions for its members, new migrant services and facilities, and a myriad of LGBT-related requirements.
According to Politico, CTU also demands that the union’s “green schools” initiative be adopted, which could cost the city hundreds of millions of dollars.
Now, the CTU is fighting for a more ambitious suite of climate actions, including a 2035 goal of net-zero emissions district-wide.
It proposes installing solar panels, heat pumps and composting programs at 50 schools, as well as a fully electrified school bus fleet and a moratorium on new gas heaters. It asks for a “carbon neutral schools” pilot program at five schools — with a goal of cutting energy costs 30 percent by the end of the next school year.
The union’s proposed contract wants windows that can open in every school and the removal of lead pipes from all buildings. It proposes a “climate champion” for each school to coordinate climate initiatives, as well the establishment of heating and cooling centers that would be available to the community during extreme weather.
The excessive demands come despite Chicago public schools failing their students, and academic rigor in Illinois continues to slip lower and lower.
A recent Illinois State Board of Education report card is dreadful.
In 30 schools in Illinois, not a single student can read at grade level, 22 of which are in the City of Chicago.
In 53 schools, not a single student can do math at grade level, 33 of which are in Chicago.
Maybe that is why Stacy Davis-Gates, President of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), sends one of her children to a private Catholic high school in Chicago.
CTU’s new contract negotiations, which began on Friday, are now open to the public for the first time.
