ICJA Already Provides Students with the Resources CTU Demanded During Their Strike

By Melinda Burgin-

On October 31, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) ended their strike, receiving many of their demands, such as higher pay for teachers, at least one certified psychologist and nurse per school, and an increase in spending on the training of such officials. They also agreed to provide more English as a second language teachers and more funding towards athletic equipment. 

Some important issues were not completely resolved, such as class size. A few of these issues, such as the presence of trained psychologists and class sizes are significantly better in private schools such as ICJA.

In public schools in Chicago, 76.6% of students live in poverty.  According to the National Education Association, low income students are more significantly affected by class size than the average student, and those who are in smaller class sizes are more likely to stay in school, be engaged in class, and attend college. Students in classes of 13 to 17 students were proven to obtain these benefits, whereas those in classes above 20 students did not. 

Average class sizes in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) are 23 students. However, in the contract agreed on after the strike, no mention was made of decreasing class sizes, which can be huge in public schools. In ICJA, the average teacher to student ratio is one to six, a very small ratio, putting ICJA students ahead of the game in learning.  

With the new contract, all CPS schools are guaranteed to have at least one trained psychologist and nurse per school. However, no staff per student ratio is guaranteed, meaning that in schools of thousands of students, there may be only one or two nurses or psychologists available. The issue was not completely solved after eleven days on strike. 

At ICJA, two social workers are available for a student body of size 210. 

However, the need in public schools for these positions is far greater. Nurses at public schools describe their job as being to educate parents and students on issues such as vaccinations, regular eye examinations, and healthy lifestyles. Those in poverty are less likely to have access to quality medical care or education, and are therefore more likely to need these resources. Also, nurses in public schools can provide care for students with physical disabilities that allows them to continue coming to school— a very necessary service as 14% of CPS students have a physical disability.  

At ICJA, the Keshet program is available for those with special needs, providing a way for all students to get the benefits of an education. It currently serves 20 high school-aged students.

There were a few negative consequences of the strike that strongly impacted students, particularly senior students and athletes. Despite procuring more funding for athletic equipment, many students faced the disappointing prospect of not being able to compete or practice during the strike. According to Cook County rules, students cannot compete in playoffs while their school district is on strike.  

The Jones College Prep cross country team made a valiant attempt to procure an exception, but their appeal was denied by a court, disappointing the hardworking team.  

Vanessa Andrews, a player on the Jones volleyball team addressed this issue, telling the Chicago Tribune, “I’m very disappointed. We wanted to end our season with a win, not on a forfeit. It’s very hard to hear that we have to end on this note.” 

Also, seniors applying Early Decision for college risked missing their deadlines as recommendation letters and transcripts were stalled. A few local schools such as Northwestern and University of Chicago made exceptions, but many out-of-state schools did not. Also, juniors hoping on becoming National Merit Scholars missed their PSAT and students not applying early missed possible final chances to take the SAT and ACT tests, in some cases ruining their chances of getting into competitive schools.  

Despite improvements in small class sizes and trained staff such as psychologists in public schools after the strike, ICJA still far outperforms CPS in these areas.