HOD Defeat

Safety Trumps Politics in Rare CTU HOD Defeat

By Jim Vail 

VP Jackson Potter skillfully ended a contentious debate on virtual HOD meetings.

It is rare when the Chicago Teachers Union President and Vice President support a resolution that goes down to defeat in the House of Delegates.

But such was the case when safety trumped politics in Wednesday's  House of Delegates Jan. 11, 2023 meeting. The delegates defeated a motion to change the next two meetings to in person versus virtual despite pleas from their top two union leaders.

The CTU made a strong defense of teachers' safety during the Covid period the last two years when we voted to teach remote and not go back into the schools. They decided for this year to hold the January, February and March House of Delegates meetings virtual because Covid was known to spread rapidly during the holiday season.

However, despite the union sending out emails to its members to be careful with the deadly virus still raging throughout the country, the leaders proposed to change the next two HOD meetings to in-person because of important events coming up, including a possible Charter School Strike and the Mayoral Election in which CTU organizer/Cook County Commissioner Brandon Johnson is a candidate. 

The Executive Board proposal was to switch the Feb. and March meetings to in-person and the May and June meetings via computer.

A couple of delegates who sit on the Executive Board spoke out in support of their decision to hold the next meetings in person because of the election. 

However, more delegates spoke against the resolution expressing safety concerns about meetings with Covid and the Flu still in high transmission. Delegate Doris Zughoul spoke passionately about being immuno-compromised and that it was unfair as a delegate to not be present at the meetings to vote on important matters. Other delegates complained that they had already arranged child care and one said the parking is especially difficult during the winter months.

President Stacy Davis Gates countered each speech by stating during the virtual meeting that child care would be provided at the union headquarters and teachers attend super spreader buildings everyday. She said that the union enforces masking so the delegates would be better protected.

The measure failed 60 - 40 percent.

But that did not stop the leadership and their supportive delegates from still trying to do an end run around the decision. A delegate from Armstrong Elementary School made a motion during the New Business/Q&A period at the end of a long meeting to have the March meeting be in-in person. 

That measure too failed 56 - 44 percent.

It is rare that the powerful CTU leadership does not get its way when it comes to counting votes in the House of Delegates. 

Contract votes, strike votes and budget votes have all passed due to the leaders skillful organization. 

The CTU leadership does listen to its members when they hear grumbling. VP Jackson Potter saw that there were many delegates against their switch to in-person meetings so he called the question so that the vote could go forward even though it would likely not yield the outcome he wanted.

The relationship with the Chicago Board of Education has also shifted after the last CTU election in which CORE won with a majority of about 58 percent, their lowest vote total in the last ten years. About 40 percent of the vote went to Members First and REAL. MF complained that the CTU had a too toxic relationship with City Hall.

The CTU has since had a more peaceful relationship with the new Chicago Public Schools CEO Chief Pedro Martinez, in stark contrast to their very toxic relationship with former Schools Chief Janice Jackson.

However, the fight with Mayor Lori Lightfoot is racketing up with her re-election Feb. 28. And this was what led to a brief battle in the recent House of Delegates meeting and the CTU's rare defeat.