Teachers Union Releases List of Climate Demands When Students Struggle to Read at Grade Level – Are You Interested in It?
NICK Pope
CONTRIBUTE
According to E&E News, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is bringing forward climate-related demands in contract negotiations as the city’s students continue to struggle in the classroom.
The CTU will push the city to include initiatives such as electric school busgreen job training programs for students and reducing emissions from buildings with solar panels and other retrofits, among other initiatives, according to to E&E News. Those demands are being made as 2023 testing data shows about 75% of Chicago public school students cannot read at grade level and 83% of students are below grade level in math, according to to the Illinois Policy Institute.
According to E&E News, the union also demanded the removal of all ductwork in school buildings, the replacement of windows that do not open, and the creation of a “climate champion” role at each school to organize climate-related initiatives and activities. CTU is also proposing to install solar panels and heat pumps in school buildings, as well as create “heating and cooling centers” for shared use when temperatures are very hot or cold. (RELATED: Blue City Teachers Union Pulls Kids From Class To Attend Voting Event Because It Supports)
According to E&E News, the coalition’s climate wish list could cost hundreds of millions of dollars if fully funded.
CTU may be well positioned to win favorable contracts because of it provide millions dollars for Democratic Mayor by Brandon Johnson mayoral campaign, and Johnson he himself is a former union organizer, E&E News reported. Unions also push to keep students out of school for online learning during the pandemic, and Chicago’s school system has the worst chronic absenteeism among America’s largest school districts, according to to the Illinois Policy Institute.
“This is an expression by the Chicago Teachers Union of our responsibility to our greater community,” CTU President Stacy Davis Gates told E&E News. “Our collective bargaining agreement and union work, especially in communities of color, will bring net benefits to everyone.”
Neither CTU nor Johnson’s office immediately responded to requests for comment.
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