State representative Curtis Tarver, who represents Chicago students and their families, called a hearing on CPS school finance to reiterate why he and his colleagues have no solutions or any political will to fund CPS and stabilize successful programs like sustainable community schools.<\/p>\n
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Instead of using the time to engage stakeholders like parents, Board of Education members and educators on the district\u2019s recent layoffs and its dwindling resources, we were held hostage to an hours long Rep. Tarver \u201cBurn Session.\u201d We wish he had the same energy for taxing the rich and funding schools as he does for criticizing Mayor Johnson.<\/p>\n
Here are the facts:<\/strong> While our students go without librarians, art teachers, and basic supplies, Illinois\u2019 wealthiest 5 percent are getting handed $8 billion in Trump tax cuts<\/strong> from his recent budget bill. Add in the $10 billion in tax breaks already baked into Gov. Pritzker\u2019s budget<\/strong> for tech corporations and the ultra-rich, and you\u2019re looking at $18 billion<\/strong> in giveaways to those who need it least.<\/p>\n That\u2019s enough to eliminate CPS\u2019s entire $1.2 billion funding gap 15 times over<\/strong>.<\/p>\n Reminder: It is 2025, not 2012, and we are no longer debating already failed arguments on retirement security versus smaller class sizes. Working families deserve both.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Trump\u2019s tax cuts transfer wealth from SNAP, schools, and Medicaid straight into billionaires\u2019 pockets while regular Illinoisans\u2019 pleas for increased education, transit, and medical funding go unheard. And the same politicians asking, \u201cWhy are schools struggling?\u201d are the Board members argue against increased funding for our school communities<\/p>\n Interim CPS CEO Macquline King and Board President Sean Harden and board members Debby Pope and Michiela Blaise are sending a crystal clear message that no cuts are acceptable<\/strong> and to pay the district what it is owed. Inexplicably, board members Jenny Custer and Ellen Rosenfeld resurrected disgraced former mayor Rahm Emanuel\u2019s school closings language<\/strong> while attempting to justify why the state legislature and governor should continue to ignore<\/strong> state law and NOT fully fund CPS. Talk about strange times.<\/p>\n GOOD NEWS: Our hardworking and courageous members, like teacher and CPS parent Deja Tillman testified<\/a> at the hearing. Ms. Tillman talked about our district libraries full of books, but no librarian to open the Chicago Teachers Union Financial Secretary Dr. Diane Castro reminded us that Illinois has a Democratic super majority. We are a blue state. We need that to mean something.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Joe Ferguson\u2014the newest megaphone for the \u201cDon\u2019t Fund CPS Billionaire Bros Club\u201d AKA the Civic Federation\u2014 lobbied to strip the newly formed hybrid BOE of their recently acquired democracy and pushed to give the governor and his appointees power over the nearly two billion dollar member led Chicago Teachers Pension Fund.<\/p>\n United for full funding and a Trump-proof Illinois<\/p>\n Thursday morning before this theater began,<\/strong> the CTU We know these solutions work because the state of Massachusetts proved it<\/a>.<\/strong> Its millionaire\u2019s tax raised $2.2 billion in the first year alone<\/strong> \u2013 double what was expected \u2013 and used it for universal free school meals, free community college, and transit improvements. And no millionaires fled the state. In fact, the state\u2019s millionaire population The pathway to sustainable healthcare, improved transit and fully funded public education in Illinois is within reach \u2013 just look at Massachusetts, a state that taxes the rich.<\/p>\n And, Illinois voters have spoken twice, with 60 percent supporting a millionaire\u2019s tax last November and 64 percent in support in 2014. Rep. Tarver already introduced the resolution for a millionaire\u2019s tax that would fund public education. We have 78 Democrats in the House and 40 in the Senate \u2013 more than enough. We are a blue state. We need that to mean something.<\/strong><\/p>\n How does one hold a hearing to ask why schools are broke while doing very little to protect Illinoisans from billionaire tax breaks that rob our schools of critical resources? #MakeItMakeSense<\/p>\n As CTU member, veteran educator and CPS parent Chanise Stephens said in her testimony to the legislators yesterday, \u201cBe brave. Take action. Invest in our children. Because if we don\u2019t, the cost down the line \u2014 in lost potential, in trauma, in fractured communities \u2014 will be far At the CTU, we are doing the work to have the best start of school possible, to win the resources our students need and deserve, and to build a culture of love for our children that can guide the Taking Action<\/p>\n We sent off individual letters for Illinois\u2019 billionaires asking them to step up and give back their Trump tax cuts to fund public schools, reliable public transit, healthcare, and higher education. As President Stacy Davis Gates said yesterday, \u201cTrump\u2019s tax cuts mean that the richest Illinoisans can pay more now. All we need are the 78 Democrats in the House and 40 Democrats in the Senate to demonstrate the political will to make the rich share with the rest of us.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhen the people who have the power to create greater equity and opportunity hold hearings to rehash the problems and their impacts, that\u2019s not oversight or the dimensional leadership we need right now. In solidarity,<\/p>\n Chicago Teachers Union<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"You can\u2019t make this up. The state that withholds money from our district held a hearing yesterday to…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":111016,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5124],"tags":[960,70552,5386,70553,1818],"class_list":{"0":"post-111015","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-chicago","8":"tag-chicago","9":"tag-cps-budget","10":"tag-il","11":"tag-ilga-illinois-general-assembly","12":"tag-illinois"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/114955109391935869","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111015","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=111015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/111015\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/111016"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=111015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=111015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=111015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
ones who just approved billions in tax breaks while telling teachers to do more with less.<\/p>\n
library\u2019s doors. She spoke about the $90,000 in missing support from the state of Illinois for her classroom of 24 students.<\/p>\n
stood with Better Streets Chicago, The People\u2019s Lobby, SEIU Healthcare,
IFT Local 4100 and the Cook County College Teachers Union demanding full funding for transit, schools, and essential services<\/a>. Chicago Teachers Union Financial Secretary Dr. Diane Castro held up envelopes with letters to Illinois\u2019 16 Billionaires who are among our state\u2019s wealthiest 5% who are getting back $8 billion in Trump tax cuts<\/strong>. We are asking those billionaires to lead and invest those giveaways to our schools, something that other millionaires are starting to call for nationwide<\/a>.<\/p>\n
increased by 38 percent. And just this week, their governor \u2014 in coalition with labor, including teachers unions \u2014 adopted DRIVE<\/a> (Discovery, Research and Innovation for a Vibrant Economy), an initiative intended to Trump-proof Massachusetts\u2019s education
infrastructure. This is especially important as the Trump administration has cancelled or frozen billions of dollars in grant funding at universities and research institutions across the country.<\/p>\n
greater.\u201d<\/p>\n
transformation of our city. After the hearing, we threw a block party for youth<\/strong> at our headquarters, because the solutions are not hard to understand.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/CTU-Oh-Snap-Photo-Collage_20250801_100258_0000.jpg\")
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That\u2019s theater. Our students deserve better than political performance art.\u201d<\/p>\n