Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Stacey Davis Gates told a news radio host that conservatives do not want black children to read, adding that it is “part of their oath to be on the right wing.”
In an interview published on WBBM News Radio’s site Sunday, the station’s political editor Craig Dellimore spoke with Davis Gates on “At Issue” about the union’s contract demands.
The demands also included social justice issues.
During the interview, Dallymore asked Davis-Gates about the teachers union contract proposals, which conservatives have criticized as being “too big” and raising concerns that many of the elements are not directly related to education.
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Stacey Davis Gates, vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union, said in an interview that conservatives do not want black children to be able to read. (Reuters/Max Hermann)
“Conservatives don’t even want black children to be able to read,” Davis Gates said. “Remember, these are the same conservative people who would have been advocating for black codes during Reconstruction or maybe after that. So, if conservatives back down from educating immigrant children, black children, children living in poverty, again, excuse me, that doesn’t concern me. That’s what they should say. It’s literally part of the oath they take to be right-wing.”
The teachers union is negotiating a new teacher contract with the public school system that requires an additional $50 billion in funding. This massive increase is being proposed to cover pay raises as well as other demands. For example, this money would be used to fund fully paid abortions for its members, new migrant services and facilities, and a host of LGBTQ-related needs and training in schools.
Last year, the state of Illinois’ total base tax receipts were $50.7 billion.
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CTU President Stacey Davis Gates (center right) accused conservatives of holding back on educating immigrant children, children of color and children living in poverty. (E. Jason Wambsganss/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The incredible demands are being made by its members despite dismal results for their students. According to the Nation’s Report Card, which provides national results about student performance, only 21% of the city’s eighth-grade students are proficient readers.
Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project and a conservative school choice and education advocate, told Fox News Digital that if conservatives didn’t want minority children to learn to read, they wouldn’t protest.
“They will allow and support the teachers union and give them anything they want, because right now Chicago public schools can only admit 20% minority students.” Read at grade levelHe said, “Whatever the conservative goals are, I don’t agree with them. I want every child to learn to read and write. I think when everybody is literate, when everybody knows how to do math, we’ll be a much better country.”
Terry Schilling, president of the American Principles Project, spoke to Fox News Digital and said he wants all children to be literate. (Fox News)
Schilling is a father of seven children and lives in Fairfax, Virginia. During the pandemic, he pulled all of his children out of public schools because he felt the education was too poor.
She said she had the opportunity to see first-hand what her children were learning and learned that only 36% of students in Fairfax County Public Schools could read at grade level.
So when you look at one of the wealthiest and most funded schools in the country and find that fewer than half of the kids can read at grade level, “it’s not a big deal,” he said.
David Gates spoke about sending her children to public schools in 2022. She said this would help “legitimize” her position within the union and that she would not be able to advocate on behalf of public schools if it were not so. According to NBC Chicago,
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Students arrive for classes at AN Pritzker Elementary School on January 12, 2022 in Chicago, Illinois. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)
However, in 2023, Davis Gates enrolled his teenage son in a private Catholic high school in the city.
“She exemplifies what it means to be a part of Teachers’ Union“Shilling said. “They’re all hypocrites. The leaders of the teachers’ unions, almost none of them, send their kids to public schools, and they know that these public schools are failing and that putting their kids in these schools means they won’t be as smart. They want the best for their kids, but not for our kids.”
He said that the leadership of the district is important and who the leader is, has an impact down to the bottom.
“If your leadership is corrupt at the top, everything below will be that way,” he said. “And that’s what we’re experiencing with Chicago public schools: It’s rotten from the top down.”
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Chicago Teachers Union President Stacey Davis Gates (left) stands with Mayor Brandon Johnson. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
Davis Gates did not respond to requests from Fox News Digital seeking clarification or a statement on his comments to the radio host.
Schilling pointed to several other reasons for the district’s failure.
The Illinois Report Card recently released a report showing that Chicago Public Schools spend $29,000 per student, and the district’s teachers are among the highest paid in large cities.
But despite the high salaries, the report showed that 43% of the district’s teachers are chronically absent each school year.
“That means they miss no more than 10 days of school a year, and the reason for that is important … The Illinois State School Board says teacher absenteeism is very serious, and it has a very negative impact on student outcomes,” Schilling said. “Almost half of their teachers are chronically absent? That’s a recipe for failure. What are they doing to curb this?”
Davis Gates’ comments about conservatives don’t differ much from those of other teachers union leaders, though Schilling said his comments are more direct than those of her organization.
“They all think we’re the enemy, and they refuse to admit their failures,” he said. “But the problem is it’s not a bunch of Republicans in these schools failing to teach these kids. It’s not the right-wingers who are getting these lavish salaries, and, you know, getting $29,000 per child. That’s bad. They have to admit it.”
Fox News Digital’s Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.
