Chicago Board of Education Withdraws Vote on ALL Charter Proposals
The Chicago Board of Education was expected to approve 10 new charter campuses and expand 5 existing charters, but instead it withheld its vote today. Before that non-vote, the Board was the sight of pickets, rallies and hours of community testimony demanding that the Board reject charters and instead support neighborhood schools.
“Charter school contracts have always been approved – they were there for the asking. The community has been demanding quality neighborhood schools, schools that all children can attend, not charters,” said Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, who added that, “Maybe today’s decision to rethink these charters is a signal from the Board that it is going to take its charter oversight role more seriously now. We look forward to the possibility of a more collaborative working relationship with the Board that is focused on improving teaching and learning in Chicago.”
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The Chicago Teachers Union represents 30,000 teachers and educational support personnel working in the Chicago Public Schools and, by extension, the students and families they serve. CTU, an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Federation of Teachers, is the third largest union in the country and the largest local union in Illinois.
