CTU: Layoffs Will Hit Hardest Schools On South, West Sides
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Members of the Chicago Teachers Union are expressing their anger over more than 400 layoffs announced last week by CPS.
The 443 layoffs include special education teachers, school clerks and bilingual teacher assistants.
The CTU said the move will hit hardest in schools on the city's south and west sides.
Members said students in those areas need more support, not less. They also question how there can be layoffs when the city's been given almost $2 billion in federal COVID relief funds.
"President Joe Biden sent these funds specifically to help the district recover from the COVID-19 pandemic," said CTU member Dulce Arroyo, a teacher at Carl Schurz High School." When I told my students, they were angry, sad, confused and in disbelief just like I am."
She added "I can't understand why someone like me, who worked extremely hard during the most difficult time for any educator, that there's no enough money to save my position."
A CPS spokesperson said the district adjusts staffing annually ahead of the school year, so principals can hire based on the needs of their individual schools.
CPS said it will be hiring for more than 2,000 open teaching and staff positions.
The district expects many of the staff members who are laid off to be re-hired for other positions within CPS.
