CTU vows to fight back against over 400 Chicago Public Schools layoffs

CHICAGO (WLS) -- As Chicago Public Schools' year comes to an end Tuesday, the Chicago Teachers Union said it plans to fight the layoffs of more than 400 CPS employees.

CPS announced the 443 layoffs last week.

The union said the majority of the cuts come from underserved communities like North Lawndale, Little Village and Englewood.

CPS said the cuts are part of a normal reallocation of resources, and many of those laid off will be rehired.

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"Each year, CPS conducts its annual staffing adjustment process to enable principals to begin hiring based on the needs of their individual school communities," CPS said in a statement. "This year, schools will be hiring for more than 2,000 open teaching and staff positions for the 2021-22 school year, which far exceeds the number of teachers and staff impacted. Consistent with previous years, the district expects many of the impacted staff to be hired for other positions within CPS and the district will be hosting several virtual hiring events in the coming weeks."

CPS also said 59 of the teacher layoffs are teachers who were hired into temporary, centrally-funded COVID-19 support roles assigned to schools with difficulty covering in-person student instruction due to the pandemic. These teachers accepted one-year roles when hired.

But the CTU responded in a statement, saying, "...our students need more support today, not less, as hundreds of thousands of working class Chicago families continue to struggle to recover from the consequences of the pandemic. Yet the mayor's handpicked board of education seems determined to continue to practice business as usual, when business as usual before the pandemic was far less than what our students need and deserve."