\n\t\t\t\tThe Chicago Teachers Union\u2019s attacks on charter schools are to blame for the upcoming closure of the Chicago High School for the Arts.
\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n
The Chicago Teachers Union\u2019s relentless attacks<\/a> on charter schools has claimed another victim.<\/p>\n The Chicago High School for the Arts announced it will not renew<\/a> its contract with Chicago Public Schools, citing financial struggles. It will stop operations at the end of the current 2025-2026 school year.<\/p>\n CTU is posturing<\/a> as opposing the closure, but CTU has long been the enemy<\/a> of charter schools, denying Chicago families access and trying to limit them statewide. The latest charter closure is all part of CTU\u2019s plan<\/a> to unionize, undermine and absorb the charter schools back into the traditional school model under CTU control.<\/p>\n Another charter school shuttering after CTU\u2019s anti-charter actions<\/b><\/p>\n School leaders at Chicago High School for the Arts notified<\/a> CPS it will not seek renewal of its contract and will no longer continue managing the school at the end of the current 2025-2026 school year.<\/p>\n There are currently 559 students enrolled in ChiArts, according<\/a> to the district\u2019s enrollment report for fall 2025. Four-in-five students are Black or Hispanic.<\/p>\n Last year, the Acero Schools charter network\u00a0announced\u00a0it was closing seven of its 15 schools. As with ChiArts, CTU made a show of claiming it supported the parents and students affected by the closing of the seven Acero schools after its actions to hurt the school staffing, flexibility and ability to plan.<\/p>\n Ultimately, CPS board members \u2013 appointed by CTU crony Mayor Brandon Johnson \u2013 voted to transition<\/a> five of the Acero schools into district-run schools by the 2026-2027 school year. The absorbed schools will no longer be charters.<\/p>\n The Acero situation is no aberration. CTU\u2019s admitted<\/a> plan: 1) unionize charter school employees, 2) undermine the charter schools and then 3) absorb the schools into the district. It is part of CTU\u2019s years-long anti-charter strategy to eliminate the charter schools they never wanted to exist in the first place.<\/p>\n The result: Removing parental choice in education and leaving students with bleaker futures.<\/p>\n Here\u2019s how it played out and what to likely expect for ChiArts.<\/p>\n Charter closures were part of CTU\u2019s plan<\/b><\/p>\n CTU admitted its plan was to undermine and close Chicago\u2019s charter schools.<\/p>\n Step 1: Unionize.<\/b>\u00a0In January 2018, former CTU President Jesse Sharkey explicitly admitted his motivation to \u201cundermine<\/a>\u00a0further charter expansion,\u201d using tactics such as unionizing and merging charter schools into CTU.<\/p>\n Step 2: Undermine.<\/b>\u00a0Later that year, CTU employed its go-to tactic in\u00a0leading<\/a>\u00a0teachers at Acero Schools charter network out on strike, marking the\u00a0first<\/a>\u00a0charter school strike in the nation and cancelling class for the 7,000 students at the 15 schools.<\/p>\n Step 3: Absorb.<\/b>\u00a0In 2024, after the Acero Schools charter network announced the decision to close<\/a> seven of 15 schools, current CTU President Stacy Davis Gates claimed she wanted to \u201csave\u201d them by\u00a0absorbing<\/a>\u00a0them into CPS. The school board followed<\/a> her directive\u00a0and did just that.<\/p>\n Now ChiArts will no longer exist unless CPS takes it over. CTU\u2019s gameplan \u2013 unionize, undermine, and close or absorb \u2013 succeeded once again.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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