Parents Support Teachers Fighting for their Children

Parents at Martha Ruggles Elementary School in Park Manor said they support teachers and staff during the ongoing strike. Photo credit: By Wendell Hutson
Parents at Martha Ruggles Elementary School in Park Manor said they support teachers and staff during the ongoing strike. Photo credit: By Wendell Hutson

Parents Support Teachers Fighting for their Children

By Wendell Hutson, Contributing Writer

As the teacher’s strike lingers on this week many parents said they support the effort by Chicago Public Schools teachers and staff to insure their children have the necessary resources needed at their schools.

“I think teachers and staff should get paid for what they do for our children. The schools in minority neighborhoods do not have the same support services like a social worker, librarian or nurse as schools in more affluent neighborhoods and I think that’s unfair,” said Darren Johnson, 52, whose 6-year-old son is a first grader at Martha Ruggles Elementary School in Park Manor.

CPS is the nation’s third largest school district with nearly 400,000 students, 660 schools and a 2019-20 budget of $7.7 billion, which includes $1.87 billion from the state of Illinois.

According to Jesse Sharkey, vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union, one of the main sticking points in contract negotiations with CPS is a written commitment by the school district to provide at least one social worker, librarian and nurse at every school five days a week.

According to Mayor Lori Lightfoot, CPS officials made a counter offer to fund $400,000 a year to hire more support staff, but she said it was rejected by the CTU, which Sharkey confirmed.

“That amount of money would pay for less than five new employees and there are more than 600 schools across the district and CPS knows this,” said Sharkey. “Getting class sizes reduced and securing more social services for our students are key parts in our negotiations.”

Lightfoot added that CPS negotiated with the CTU in good faith and will continue to do so until an agreement is reached.

“From the start, our team has focused on building equity and targeting greater supports and investments to the areas of greatest need. We believe this is a vision we share with the Chicago Teachers Union,” said Lightfoot. “We are committed to bargaining in good faith so that we can create a fair agreement our students, families and teachers deserve.”

Ericka Lipsey, 43, said this is the first time she dealt with a teacher’s strike and hopes it is her last time. In September, she transferred her 10-year-old son to a public school from a private school.

“Up until last year my son attended a private school, so this is the first time I had to deal with something like this. I regret taking him out of private schools but had to do so for financial reasons,” explained Lipsey, a Chatham resident. “Class sizes should be smaller like his previous school where class sizes were no more than five students per class.”

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