Staff Reports
The Chicago Teachers Union made some serious demands, but they were really asking for too much. They wanted a whopping $50 billion in pay raises and other expenses for their next contract with the city. That is a HUGE amount of money and could mean doubling taxes for the people in Chicago. The average salary for teachers in the city is already $93,182 a year, and if the union got its way, that amount would go up to about $144,620 by the 2027-2028 school year. That’s twice as much as the average household income in the city! It just seems like way too much money to ask for.
It Was Never About the Students: Teachers Union Demands Billions for Homeless, Migrants and LGBT Training via @WestJournalism https://t.co/0a08F9EXQq
— K Shiner (@katscheiner) May 7, 2024
But the union didn’t stop there. They also wanted things like mandatory LGBT training for teachers, fully covered abortions, and new services for illegal immigrant students. They even demanded that unused schools and school floors be turned into housing for homeless students and families. And they wanted 180 more “sustainable community schools” to be created, even though 20 of those kinds of schools in the Chicago public school system had already failed.
The union also wanted one gender-neutral bathroom per school and a policy allowing teachers to keep a student’s “gender transition” a secret from his or her parents. They also wanted certain school staff to be trained each year on LGBT issues.
The most shocking part of all of this is that most students in Chicago public schools can’t read or do math at their grade level! In a statewide assessment last year, nearly 83 percent of students did not meet standards in math, and three-quarters of students were not reading at grade level. With all these demands from the union, it seems like they’re more focused on pushing a progressive agenda than actually helping the students improve in school.
The Chicago Teachers Union’s demands just seem too extreme, especially in a school system where most students are struggling with reading and math. It’s important to think about what’s best for the students and the city as a whole.
