The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is seeking additional $50 billion for a variety of reasons, including including free abortions, migrant services, and LGBT training.
The union is calling for an additional $50 billion to fund a range of initiatives, including free abortions, migrant services, and LGBT training, according to Daily Wire. These requests are part of the union’s broader push for substantial changes to employee benefits and educational provisions amid concerns over academic performance in Chicago Public Schools.
Chicago Teachers Union Demands Extra $50 Billion To Fund Abortions, Migrant Services As Students Score Lower https://t.co/X2mmohxBpr pic.twitter.com/inv5O4QKY6
— Daily Wire News (@DailyWireNews) May 6, 2024
In its contract proposal, which was recently leaked but not yet officially released, CTU is advocating for a 9% annual pay increase for teachers through fiscal year 2028. This increase would raise the average teacher’s salary from the current $93,182 to $144,620, based on figures from the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative think tank, the outlet reported.
The union’s demands include offering free abortions for public school employees, ensuring comprehensive mass transit access for students and staff, and providing financial support for migrants’ academic and mental health needs. The CTU also seeks to transform unused school facilities into housing for homeless migrants, Daily Wire reported. Other proposals call for mandatory LGBT training for all school employees and the installation of at least one gender-neutral bathroom in every school. Additionally, the union demands that school employees not be required to inform parents if a student adopts a new gender identity.
Union president Stacy Davis Gates has openly acknowledged the ambitious nature of these demands.
“We are asking you to give us an opportunity to tell our story,” Davis Gates said in her speech in March, Daily Wire reported. “It will cost $50 billion and three cents. And so what, that’s audacity. That’s Chicago.”
Democratic Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, a former teacher and union organizer, is now navigating these negotiations. His past affiliations with the CTU and the union’s support during his mayoral campaign have raised concerns about his impartiality, according to Daily Wire. Critics, including Mailee Smith, director of the Illinois Policy Institute and a local parent, have called the union’s current demands as extreme but expected. (RELATED: Video Allegedly Shows Democrat Mayor Flee From Reporters To Getaway Car, Avoiding Questions)
“CTU’s leadership has a long history of progressive activism. It focuses on power and politics over what’s best for teachers and students,” Smith told Fox News. “In 2022, it handpicked and bankrolled Mayor Brandon Johnson into office, one of their own, one of their own employees, and so this was kind of to be expected. Now it’s taking this opportunity of having one of its own across the bargaining table to advance its most radical agenda yet.”