Police report: Chicago Teachers Union president advises punching principal in face
A Chicago elementary school principal filed a police report after he was told Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates recommended his staff punch him in the face.
A Chicago elementary school principal filed a police report after being told Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates recommended he be punched in the face.
The report was filed Jan. 26 by William Hozian, principal of Stevenson Elementary School, after two staffers told him Davis Gates made those remarks. The witnesses provided written statements that Davis Gates spoke to attendees at a union meeting and said: “In talking to my Stevenson brothers and sisters, I told them they should punch their principal in the face.”
CTU tweeted a response calling Davis Gates’ remarks a “figurative comment” referring to upcoming contract negotiations.
“We believe that this police report was filed in reference to a figurative comment made by President Davis Gates during impromptu remarks to union members at CTU’s union hall in January, while talking about using the contract to challenge principals who bully our members,” CTU tweeted.
The principal also wrote in his statement that “a teacher approached him and told him that another teacher heard that he/she will slash the tires of the principal’s vehicle.”
The report didn’t result in criminal charges or further investigation. CTU’s contract expires June 30.
Davis Gates’ controversial tenure as CTU president has included:
• An unfair labor practices complaint over using member dues without their consent for political contributions.
• Criticism for working to kill school choice scholarships for low-income Illinois students while sending her own son to private school.
• Shorting Indiana schools by claiming a property tax exemption for her Indiana house intended for occupants.
• Failing to pay over $5,500 in city utility bills for at least three years.
• Running CTU’s first deficit since reporting began, plus raising member dues 13%.
• Attacking members as racist for asking to see audits CTU bylaws require be released annually.
• Losing nearly 500 union members.