Chicago Teachers Union demands ‘no work, no school’ May 1 shutdown

The union wants teachers and students to skip school for rallies and “mass resistance training.”

The Chicago Teachers Union is demanding a day of “no work” and “no school” on May 1. It’s launching “what amounts to a one-day strike,” according to the Chicago Sun-Times.

The union’s House of Delegates passed a resolution March 11 pushing the mayor and the Chicago Public Schools board to go along with a scheme to take kids and teachers out of school for a paid day off and excused absence.

Activities CTU has listed for the day include “mass resistance training,” “marches and rallies,” “Peace Concerts” and voter registration drives.

With chronic absenteeism already high — and reading and math proficiency embarrassingly low — scrapping classes for a day of political activism isn’t in the educational best interest of students.

In fact, the entire purpose is political. CTU is joining a national resistance movement called “May Day Strong,” whose organizers say 500,000 workers and families will walk out that day, supposedly sticking it to billionaires while really just affecting the services middle-class families need.

It’s the same type of progressive activism that drew criticism in 2024 when CTU took kids out of school for a “day of political engagement” and got caught telling kids what to vote for.

In the meantime, Chicagoan’s approval of the union has reached an all-time low. Shenanigans like this May 1 strike are making CTU toxic in its own city.

Here are five things you should know about CTU’s “May Day Strong” plans.

1. High absenteeism is already a problem for CPS students, teachers

Chronic absenteeism runs rampant in CPS.

In 2024-2025, 40.1% of students — or 2-in-5 — were chronically absent, defined as missing 10% or more of the school year with or without an excuse.

High absenteeism is a warning sign, as frequently missing school puts students at higher risk of poor outcomes, such as dropping out and lower academic achievement.

It isn’t just students. More than 2-in-5 teachers missed 10 or more school days, also meeting the metric of chronic absenteeism for 2024-2025. That marked the lowest teacher attendance rate recorded in CPS in nearly a decade and was nearly 10 percentage points lower than the statewide rate.

With teacher absences shown to hurt student achievement, Chicago students’ low proficiency rates aren’t helped when their teachers don’t show up.

Pulling kids and teachers out for yet an additional day isn’t in the best interests of student outcomes.

2. Most CPS students can’t read at grade level.

Just 2-in-5 CPS students could read at grade level in 2025. Even fewer could do math. Proficiency levels are even lower among the district’s low-income and minority students.

The most recent Illinois Report Card showed just 43% of CPS students in third through eighth grade read at grade level in 2025. Just 27% were proficient in math. For high school juniors, ACT scores showed only 40% proficient in reading and 25% in math.

These rates came after the state board of education lowered the scores needed to be considered proficient in reading and math in 2025.

But instead of focusing on the basics, CTU wants students and teachers to miss school.

3. CTU is using this “holiday” with communist ties to push its radical agenda on kids.

The timing of “May Day Strong” is no coincidence. May 1 was first chosen to be “International Workers Day” in commemoration of the 1886 Haymarket affair. But it has also become one of the most important holidays in communist and socialist countries such as China, North Korea and former Soviet Union nations.

CTU’s ties to socialism are no secret. When now-Mayor Brandon Johnson was a CTU organizer, he spoke at the Socialism 2013 conference about the union’s efforts to normalize radical progressive politics among teachers. He said: “Took us a year to convince [CTU] members that it’s OK to associate yourself with labor. The baby Socialists would just wear the buttons, right? You gotta start them off gently. And so eventually, they started putting on red T-shirts.”

Students aren’t off-limits from the clutches of CTU’s progressivism. A similar event in 2024 was billed as a “day of political engagement.” Media coverage from that day revealed that organizers and teachers had been telling kids to vote for a tax hike on the ballot:

• A reporter asked a student listed as attending Michelle Clark High School, “Did your teachers encourage you to vote for [the Bring Chicago Home tax hike]?” The student responded, “Yes.” Source: ABC 7 reporting [2:01]
• A leader or volunteer with the Parade to the Polls was chanting a pro-tax-hike message to students as they walked to the polling place: “We will not give up the fight! Housing is a human right!” Source: NBC 5 reporting [0:20] 
• Diana Trevino, student ambassador for event co-sponsor La Casa Norte, delivered a pro-tax-hike speech to students at Chicago Teachers Union headquarters, indicating which way they should vote: “There are hundreds of students that don’t have a house. We need to bring important costs to this because a lot of people just go out … there’s people on the streets.” Source: ABC 7 reporting [0:35]
• On chairs throughout the event were voter guides with a link to chicagovotes.com. On that website at that time were illustrations of Bring Chicago Home advocates, saying “your valued vote is needed.” Source: ABC 7 reporting [0:49]

CTU’s track record shows it does not stay neutral. It doesn’t aim to teach civics; it aims to create “baby Socialists.”

4. CTU wants the mayor and school board to grant an “excused absence” for teachers and students May 1.

CTU wants the mayor and school board to make May 1 “an official day of action.” The union is demanding a CPS-approved “day of civic action,” basically paying teachers to do CTU’s political advocacy. CTU also wants an excused absence for students.

That’s something the union could have negotiated into its most recent contract, ratified last April. Days off are part of union negotiating under Illinois law.

Instead, the union waited until the middle of the school year to launch a campaign to remove a day from the school calendar.

By granting excused absences and not providing timely notice, CPS would leave parents scrambling to find a babysitter or forced to miss work.

5. Just 27.5% of Chicagoans have a favorable opinion of the union.

A record-low 27.5% of Chicago voters have a favorable opinion of CTU. More than half — 53.6% — dislike the union.

That means that for every Chicago voter who has a favorable opinion of the union, two don’t like it.

What’s more, half of Chicago voters are less likely to vote for a candidate who takes CTU money.

CTU walked out on students five times from 2010 to 2022, including a 2019 strike that closed schools for 11 days. Now it’s planning yet another day of “no work” and “no school.”

It’s no wonder the union is so wildly unpopular.