Chicago Education Politics

Chicago is facing a late‑breaking showdown over whether its public schools will hold classes on May 1, as the Chicago Teachers Union pushes to scrap school for more than 315,000 students so educators and students can join May Day protests against the Trump administration’s agenda. Newly appointed CPS CEO Macquline King has rejected canceling school, saying “every minute in the classroom is vital,” but acknowledged the elected school board could override her at its April 23 meeting. The union says it will treat May 1 as a professional development day, swapping it with June 5, and has filed a grievance, while national labor groups are calling for boycotts of work, shopping, and school that day to demand more school funding, higher taxes on the wealthy, and an end to immigration crackdowns. Internal CPS data show about one‑fifth of schools already scheduled field trips, AP makeup testing and other events on May 1, with another 100 planning proms and senior nights, raising fears that any late closure would disrupt key milestones for graduating seniors and 8th graders and create childcare and test‑prep headaches for families. The fight, playing out in a historically union‑friendly city where May Day demonstrations are typically robust, tests the alliance between the powerful CTU and Mayor Brandon Johnson and highlights how classrooms are becoming a front line in national political battles.