Chicago Teachers Union honors freedom fighters in State of the Union address

Chicago, IL – Leaders and rank-and-file members of the Chicago Teachers Union were joined by community supporters on Tuesday January 27, as they celebrated recent and historical victories won by CTU and the movement to defend public education. They also recognized the need to build ongoing struggles against ICE, racist policing and for fully funded public services.

“Unions are under attack because we refuse to be silent,” said, elementary school teacher Ashley Harris, explaining why CTU is currently being investigated by the Republican-led House Committee on Education and the Workforce.

“Our union understands that protecting public education is protecting racial justice,” Harris added.

“Having a teacher’s union that defends students and communities is not optional. It’s a necessity,” said Rocio Garcia with the Grassroots Collaborative.

Two students addressed the rally by describing how the CTU Environmental Justice Freedom School, a yearly summer program for high school students, empowered them to organize for a just future. Together with other students and community members, they have taken the demand for fully-funded public schools to the Chicago Board of Education and the state capitol in Springfield.

“We want change and we will fight for it,” said one of the students.

The students were introduced by Mayor Brandon Johnson, who explained the policies of his administration by saying “we are centering the needs of young people and working people.”

Johnson touted record low crime rates and investments in schools, parks, and public libraries as evidence of the effectiveness of investing in communities. He added “when we talk about investing in communities, that money has to come from the ultra-rich.”

Stacy Davis Gates ended the night by calling to the history of the battle for public education. She recounted how Jitu Brown, who was in attendance, went from sleeping outside the Board of Education in protest to being an elected board member. She also linked the ongoing fight to save public education with the coalition of freed slaves and white abolitionists who built the first public education system in the South during Reconstruction.

“Our work is rooted in the spirit of Fred Hampton,” Gates declared. She spoke about the work CTU has done in building solidarity in Chicago and affirmed that this work would grow throughout Illinois during her tenure as president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers.

“We are going school to school, neighborhood to neighborhood, city to city and teaching people that the answer to their problems comes not from Democrats or Republicans, but from the solidarity of workers,” Gates proclaimed.

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