The school went through three principals her first year. Elizabeth Warren, a presidential candidate at the time, joined teachers on the picket line on a blustery October morning. It had to do with finding human connections., Kimbrough was in Gatess first African American history class. Paraprofessionals & school-related personnel, Standing united to protect immigrant rights, DACA (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), Safe and welcoming public schools for all, AFT resources for organizing and back to school programs. The crowd of 50 or so strong stood for Lift Every Voice and Sing., Stamps turned her attention to Gates. She didnt have any notes with her onstage. Accessed June 01, 2020. There are lots of ways in which they dont really want to be there, Sharkey says. Or, Omicrons peaking. Accessed June 02, 2020. Enrollment had declined precipitously. Mr. Potter has been an education activist since he led a student walkout at his high school, Whitney Young, in 1995 to push for equitable funding for schools in Illinois. Konkol, Mark, CTU Boss Talks Like Working Man, Lives Like Wealthiest 1 Percent, Patch Chicago, August 27, 2019. The Chicago Teachers Union voted to go on strike on Oct. 17. Davis Gates is currently on leave from the classroom, where she taught high school social studies for over a decade at Englewood, Clemente, and Mason Community Links high schools. Both branches took the same path, Gates says. After her twelve-year career as a classroom educator, Stacy married her political ambitions with her passion for educational advocacy and joined the revitalized Chicago Teachers Union. I think about the lessons I got as a kid: You have to be twice as good to get half as much. This outcome led the CFT to prioritize collective bargaining rights as a primary goal. My credibility came slowly, and it had nothing to do with my instruction or my understanding of content, she says. A 1987 strike lasted a record 19 school days. I see 10, 20, 30, 45, 100 little brown girls that look just like her. So we have to be astute historians and know that our voice is necessary to this moment. It made me feel powerless. When my members hear how much I love them, they hear Laura., Shes loath to squander the opportunities they provided her. It was a tough year, she says. Karen Lewis, a longtime chemistry teacher, was elected to lead the newly reform-minded CTU in 2010. [29] [30] In 2015, donations to the CTU PAC amounted to over $1.5 million, and the CTU PAC spent hundreds of thousands of dollars in support of Cook County Commissioner Jesus Garcia (D), who ran against incumbent Mayor Rahm Emanuel (D). Wikipedia. And it was an early glimpse at the way some kids are placed on a path to succeed, while others are left behind. I said survive. I was hurt. Every problem in societyhunger, domestic violence, povertyit walks into your doors, doesnt it? Sanders said to the crowd gathered inside CTU headquarters. Members First is running, in part, on the belief that the union needs to have a better relationship with city officials. Szalinski, Ben, The new contract continues a moratorium on school closings despite plummeting student enrollment, Illinois Policy, November 22, 2019. Email Monica Trevino at Mtrevino@ift-aft.org. Under her leadership, the unions political action fund and member activity in the political and legislative arena has grown significantly. Assets: $16,818,501, The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is the teachers union for 25,000 teachers, paraprofessionals, and other public school employees in the Chicago, Illinois public school system, the third-largest school system in the United States. Stacy Gates Davis L in 2016 was employed in Chicago Teachers Union and had annual salary of $112,422 according to public records. By the time teachers and students returned to classrooms in November 2019four months before COVID-19 would force schools to close againthe union had successfully bargained for a social worker, nurse, and librarian in every school, $35 million in spending to reduce overcrowded classrooms, a 16 percent pay raise for teachers over five years, and a 40 percent pay raise for teaching assistants, clerks, and other historically underpaid support staff members. It felt like people were still begging American institutions to see our humanity. It was all I could do to refrain from leaping up from my desk at work and cheering. Stacy Davis Gates has served as the Political and Legislative Director for the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) for the past six years. This is an organization that historically has represented an awful lot of important stuff in the aspirations of working-class Chicagoans in general, but Black working-class Chicagoans especially. Sharkey was first elected vice president in 2010, when Karen Lewis was elected CTUs president. The Federation challenged this rule in court, with mixed results. In 2020, the city was running an $838 million budget deficit, and Chicagos school system bonds have been rated below investment-grade in recent years. As a speech-language pathologist, she served as an executive board elementary functional vice president and Big Bargaining Team member. The CTU represents more than 25,000 teachers, paraprofessional and school-related personnel, and school clinicians working in the Chicago Public Schools and, by extension, the students and families they serve. Chicago Teachers Union Foundation, Grantees List. Gates is revered and resented in equal partsor at least at equal volume. Davis Gates is currently on leave from the classroom, where she taught high school social studies for over a decade at Englewood and Clemente High Schools and Mason Community Links High School. From 1969 to 1987, CTU staged nine walkouts, according to the Chicago Tribune. *negotiated* salary schedules in public education means I know that my experience and education is valued the same for me as it is for my colleagues. As a rank-and-file member, she was active in the charter outreach committee, clinicians steering committee and the CTU Latino Caucus policy committee. Her maternal grandmother left Arkansas, worked on the West Side of Chicago, and wound her way to South Bend. God Bless. I have enormous respect for the load Lightfoot and Gates carry, Sive wrote, but were tired, girlfriends. As for politics, Gates says shes not sure shes cut out for it. While the purpose of the Foundation was to support retired and disabled teachers, very few teachers ever lived at Fewkes Tower, and only seven of the 224 apartments in Fewkes Tower were occupied by retired CPS teachers when the building was sold by CTUF in 2014. Column: Surprised by CTUs Venezuela Visit? Animosity between the CTU and the mayor, who controls the citys schools, often dominates the discourse around public education in Chicago. [15] The 2012 strike also proved difficult for President Barack Obama during that years presidential campaign; it pitted labor unions, whose support he needed, against Emanuel, Obamas former White House Chief of Staff and a top fundraiser. 1973: Two strikes, of 12 and 11 days, yield improved salary, benefits, preparation time, supplies, and class sizes. Photographs and illustrations, as well as text, cannot be used without permission from the AFT. Chicago is a city that can leave behind, even devour, its young. And she's not about to let anyone. What are the multiple roles of a successful introductory paragraph? She also serves as a board member for the Action Center on Race & the Economy (ACRE), a nexus for organizations working at the intersection of the struggle for racial justice and Wall Street accountability. Stacy Davis GatesPresident, Chicago Teachers Union Stacy Davis Gates is the President of the Chicago Teachers Union and the Executive Vice President of the I. [39] The World Socialist Web Site has called Sharkey a leading member of the International Socialist Organization. [40] Sharkey lives in a $1.5 million home, and sends his own children to magnet and selective enrollment schools. Yet they remain a part of Gates. While at the CTU, Davis Gates has been the architect of bold political and legislative campaigns for the schools and city that all Chicagoans deserve. It really makes you understand how the city works and who the city works for and who the city doesnt, says Dave Stieber, a social studies and poetry teacher at Kenwood Academy High School and a vocal CTU supporter on social media. The challengers. [14] After a strike in 1987, there was a period of relative peace, with no teacher strikes until 2012. I was meant to be a Chicagoan., In 2004, she became one, landing a job as a history teacher at Englewood High School. Four years later, after undergoing brain surgery, she retired, and Sharkey, her vice president, took over. Whos the president of the Chicago Teachers Union? She has raised millions of dollars to elect classroom teachers to all levels of local government and to challenge school privatizers and union-busters. We, teachers, and other educational personnel in the Chicago Public Schools, being members of the Chicago Teachers Union, do hereby declare this Union to have the following purposes: to protect and improve the services of the public schools as a social agency for developing the capacities of the young and promoting adult education; to promote and guarantee efficient and faithful service from us to the public and to insure to us in return for that service a fair reward and a just security; in accordance with the Agreement between the Board of Education of the City of Chicago and Chicago Teachers Union, to assert, secure, and protect the inherent and fundamental equity in our jobs; as the sole collective bargaining agent for members of the bargaining unit, to establish and maintain orderly and practicable democratic processes in the management of the Chicago public schools, in accordance with the terms of the Agreement; to maintain a relationship of mutual assistance and cooperation with organized labor; to unify the educators of traditional public schools and public charter schools in the City of Chicago, together with other Chicago-area educators that may join with this Union. Sharkey taught at Chicago Vocational Career Academy (CVCA). While a victory for the teachers' union, the concessions came at a significant cost - estimated at about $500 million - to Chicago's already-shaky financial condition. In 2017, Ms. Davis Gates was elected Chair of United Working Families, an independent political organization by and for working-class people and our movements. And someone with those qualitiessensitive, brilliant, cares a lot about justiceif youre a Black woman with those qualities, you get a lot of people who take umbrage., He recalls a story that Gates told him years ago about being the only Black girl in the gifted program at her South Bend elementary school. If you dont fight for it, you wont receive it.. I need to vote for someone like you. Where does Stacy Davis Gates Live? You may use these HTML tags and attributes:
, Enter your email address to receive new and updated COAL website news articles. CTU is a local union of the American Federation of Teachers, the countrys second-largest national teachers union. While the CTU mission is, ostensibly, to improve public education, most of the identified purposes of the CTU are related to improving compensation and protecting the job security of union members, as well as growing the union. What does it mean when two transistors are matched? Evaluation of New District Teachers Without Tenure. While at the CTU, Ms. Davis Gates has been the architect of bold political and legislative campaigns for the schools and city that all Chicagoans deserve. Website by Governmental Strategic Solutions, LLC. Chicago Teachers Union, Website. Our courage, our organizing, our value are necessary in this moment.. But the union's vice president, Stacy Davis Gates, said teachers are dealing with "severe staffing shortages" and a lack of mitigation measures against Covid-19. In 2017, Ms. Davis Gates was elected Chair of United Working Families, an independent political organization by and for working class people and our movements. While at the CTU, Davis Gates has been the architect of bold political and legislative campaigns for the schools and city that all Chicagoans deserve. Accessed June 02, 2020. [17], In 2019, CTU launched an 11-day teacher strike, the eleventh since 1969. Before her election to the office of President in 2022, Ms. Davis Gates served for four years as Vice President of the Union. The Chicago Teacher Federation threw itself into political advocacy, organizing behind candidates who were favorable to their goals. 2020 Chicago magazine / A Chicago Tribune Media Group website. In 2020, the city was running an $838 million budget deficit, and Chicago's school system bonds have been rated below investment-grade in recent years. You dont need notes to talk to your family.. Stacy Davis Gates EDITOR'S NOTE, OCTOBER 30, 2019: The profile below was first published on August 2, 2019. She says there were fights every day on the corner of Western and Division. She is an IFT executive board vice president, member of the IFT Scholarship Committee and has served as co-chair of the IFT PSRP Constituency Committee and organizer of its bi-annual PSRP Constituency Conference. My pawpaw used to watch it, and I watched it with him, she says. Weve got this amazing band program. And theyd close it anyway. I am not a union member nor am I a teacher but if you knocked on my door with that speech, I would start paying Chicago Teachers Union dues. Continue to pray for Ukraine. It was the final day of Black History Month and Stacy Davis Gates needed to be in three places at once. Accessed June 02, 2020. And for those who are not experiencing that in the same way, it is difficult to even grasp why this is happening., Gates wanted to be Perry Mason when she grew up. It was more than, I care about what Im teaching you. It was, I care about you personally., Then, in Gatess second year at Englewood High, CPS announced the school would close after that years freshman class graduated. And the students need you to clear itlike they need their next breath, they need you to clear it.. But the school, like the surrounding neighborhood, had been neglected by city leaders for decades. Moran, Theresa, Behind the Chicago Teachers Strike, Labor Notes, September 10, 2012. She graduated from John Marshall High School and proudly serves on the schools alumni committee. So I want to say this: We are fighters at this union. chicago.suntimes.com. The hallways of Englewood High were lined with photos of notable alums: Harold Ickes, secretary of the interior under Presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Harry Truman; Robert Henry Lawrence Jr., the first African American to be selected as an astronaut; Harold Bradley Sr., who was one of just 13 African American players in the National Football League before World War II; Pulitzer Prizewinning poet Gwendolyn Brooks. A few minutes past 6 p.m., with the board meeting streaming on her iPhone, Gates walked through the refurbished warehouse in West Town that serves as the unions headquarters and into the Jacqueline B. Vaughn Hall, named for first African American woman to lead the CTU. They are demanding affordable housing for students, Washington Post, October 16, 2019. Gatess allies, though, credit her with helping transform the landscape at the citys 636 public schools, which are on track to add a nurse and social worker to every building by 2024a hard-fought victory in the strike three years ago. Karen LewisChicago Teachers Union / PresidentKaren Lewis was an American educator and labor leader who served as president of the Chicago Teachers Union, Chicagos division of the American Federation of Teachers, from 2010 to 2014. The CTU is Local 1 of the American Federation of Teachers, an Illinois Federation of Teachers affiliate and affiliated with the Chicago Federation of Labor and the AFL-CIO. Accessed June 02, 2020. Accessed June 01, 2020. We would like to show you a description here but the site won't allow us. You are confronted with unparalleled grief., Stacys brilliant, Sharkey says. Stephanie Simon and James B. Kelleher, Analysis: Striking Chicago teachers take on national education reform, Reuters, September 10, 2012. You need to run for public office. We felt like the system was being sabotaged by the people who were in charge of it, and the union was the one institution that had both the interest and the ability to do something about that. Use tab to navigate through the menu items. Stacy Davis Gates, the incumbent vice president, led CORE's slate and will take over as president with her running mate Jackson Potter for a three-year term beginning July 1. Under famous union leader Margaret Haley (known as the Lady Labor Slugger), the CTF recognized that it needed to persuade political officials to achieve these goals. Accessed June 02, 2020. It made me feel like a failure, says Gates. She has raised millions of dollars to elect classroom teachers to all levels of local government and to challenge school privatizers and union-busters, most prominently Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his rubber-stamp City Council in 2015.Ms. Ms. Stacy Davis Gates is the Political and Legislative Director of the Chicago Teachers Union AFT Local 1. South Side of Chicago We dont walk backwards and pretend that yesterday was better than what we can imagine tomorrow to be. Stacys relationship with the mayor and CPS CEO is toxic, and this will make it very difficult for her to deliver for us.. Why are we negotiating safety? Gates asks. And theyre like, No, its just for the honor kids. And shes like, Well, then I aint going. I mean, imagine being that kid in third grade or fifth grade whos like, No. Year: 2016: Full Name: Accessed June 01, 2020. Ms. Davis Gates has also spearheaded statewide legislative campaigns to pass the strongest charter school accountability measures in the country, push for the restoration of the bargaining rights of Chicago Public Schools employees, and fully fund public education by ending tax loopholes for the 1%. CTU argued that this was an undue burden. While at the CTU, Ms. Davis Gates has been the architect of bold political and legislative campaigns for the schools and city that all Chicagoans deserve. The Chicago Teachers Union has elected a new president: Stacy Davis Gates. (Current CEO Pedro Martinez, in office since September, didnt respond to requests for an interview for this story.) We are committed to advancing these principles through community engagement, organizing, collective bargaining and political activism, and especially through the work our members do. Ms. Davis Gates is currently on leave from the classroom, where she taught high school social studies for over a decade at Englewood, Clemente, and Mason Community Links High Schools. Holocaust-denier gets nearly 40 percent of vote in 2 Mount Greenwood precincts. Jackson Potter is the Vice President of the Chicago Teachers Union. Here she addresses the media on last day of the teachers strike on Oct. 31, 2019. At the national level, Christel has worked on the PSRP Professional Problems Committee for the American Federation of Teachers and was a member of its Summer Organizing Institute in Houston, Texas. Subscribe to one or more of our free e-mail newsletters to get instant updates on local news, events, and opportunities in Chicago. You should be ashamed. Chicago Teachers Union vice president Stacy Davis Gates talks about the looming vote to decide whether members will work remotely, in opposition to the schoo. And shes not about to let anyone stand in her way. When the group first challenged the unions current administration three years ago, Sharkey won reelection handily, with two-thirds of the vote. What am I missing? Ive adopted the same two questions. And they tried her a lot because she was younger. That figure is composed of merit raises and other specific pools of raises that do not apply to all union members across the board. Stacy Davis Gates. Accessed June 02, 2020. Chicago Teachers Union, History. Ms. Davis Gates is currently on leave from the classroom, where she taught high school social studies for over a decade at Englewood, Clemente, and Mason Community Links High Schools. However, due to the Loeb Rule, the Chicago Board of Education fired dozens of participating teachers. Before Sharkeys announcement, Gatess name also had been brought up as a possible contender. We are in love with humanity at this union. 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