As a Chicago Public School parent, I am proud and thrilled that the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has called for May 1 2026 to be a day of civic action. Teachers taking the lead in calling for action to defend public education against federal attacks and to stand up to demand that ICE get out of our cities is good for Chicago and good for my child. From this perspective, I find that the Chicago Tribune editorial board’s March 13 piece attacking the CTU presents a narrow and shortsighted view of what education is.
I do agree with the Tribune editorial that “education starts with the basics.” It is an obvious fact that core skills, like math and reading, are fundamental. However, describing education as being about only the basics is a rote and wooden depiction of what learning actually is. I send my kid to school to not just learn the A,B,Cs and the 1,2,3s but to learn the rich lessons beyond that: how to get along with others, make friends, navigate relationships, resolve conflicts, and discover who they are and what they want to be. We want our children to learn how the world works and how to participate in society.
Last May 1, I took my elementary-school-aged kid out of school to attend the large mass march that many of Chicago’s immigrant organizations and labor groups had called. I felt like it was an educational experience about the world. I emailed my child’s teacher to tell her, and she asked that I send pictures. I sent pictures, and she used them on the fly to have an impromptu lesson about protest and democracy with the rest of the class. They talked about how to raise your voice and act to make the school and the world better. They drew pictures of themselves with protest signs and practiced writing (the basics) what kind of things they would write on their sign or banner. Dropping off my child the next day I was struck by how electric my kid’s classmates were. In wanting to talk about my kid’s experience, many of them showed me their pictures, and it was clear that they learned a different lesson about their participation in the world–and also practiced writing as well. The teacher’s creativity is the reason she is beloved by my kid and the rest of the class. This is the kind of learning that is dynamic; it connects the basics with deeper lessons about critical thinking and the world.
There are crucial lessons to be learned by taking a day, along with people around the country, to engage in civic participation around issues that are completely intertwined in schools and education. These issues are not outside the classroom, but rather profoundly impact the classroom, our children, our teachers, and yes, the basics.
The Trump administration is carrying out a massive attack on public education. Per the Center for American Progress, he has withheld more than $4 billion from public education since the start of the 2025-2026 school year. These cuts especially threaten support for youth with disabilities. I know that many of the parents at our school who have kids with IEPs have been in a state of panic in anticipation of loss of critical support. This is paired with the administration’s assault on protections for LGBTQIA youth. I again know many parents and youth to whom this feels very very threatening and scary.
Second, classrooms around the country are feeling the impact of the ICE raids that have been happening around the country, here in Chicago last fall and in Minnesota, the scene of the high-profile murders by federal agents of Renee Good and Alex Pretti. I have received numerous emails from my child’s teacher letting parents know about the “hard conversations” and fear that our elementary-school aged kids are bringing up in the classroom. Our school is 85 percent non-white and around 80 percent economically disadvantaged. Families are directly impacted by the ICE raids targeting those communities. And even if they are not directly targeted by phenomena that can seem distant and outside the classroom, it is us, or it is our friends, our classmates, and our neighbors who are living under the fear of masked armed agents stealing away our loved ones. How does one “stick to the basics” in that context?
What is to be done about these serious issues? On January 23, more than 75,000 Minnesotans came out into the streets in subzero temperatures in a general strike demanding ICE out. Hundreds of businesses were closed and one in four Minnesotans took part in the strike or knew someone who did. Regular people came together to raise their voices against the violence and murder being carried out by federal agents. This mass pressure was a large factor in Trump’s drawing down agents from Minneapolis, forcing Border Patrol commander Gregory Bovino into retirement, and firing DHS head Kristi Noem.
Much more is needed to stop the ICE surges, raids, and arrests of thousands of people with no criminal records. Hundreds of children are being detained in concentration camps– writing letters wishing they could go back to school, and hoping–as nine-year-old Deiver Henao Jimenez told popular child educator Ms. Rachel–to leave in time to make it to his spelling bee. What about the educational “basics” for those children? The Tribune editorial board says, “Don’t worry about it, stay in school.” The Chicago Teachers Union–like the huge number of people around the country marching, participating in community ICE watches, raising money, and engaging in mutual aid to help our neighbors say we should stop business as usual and stand for justice for our schools, our neighbors, and our communities.
By calling for May 1 to be a Day of Civic Action–that yes, would close schools for a day–Chicago teachers are providing the opportunity for learning important lessons about what it means to participate in a democratic society, what it means to play an active role in trying to make the world better, what it means to use your voice, and what it means to stand up together in community and solidarity. These lessons are impactful, educational, and, I would argue, vital. There is a call for similar actions taking place in cities around the country.
The Tribune editorial condescendingly argues otherwise, absurdly claiming that Chicago’s teachers are “one of the greatest threats to public education” because one day of missed traditional instruction would critically damage our kids’ education and that any advocacy around education should only be done in distant “legislatures” and government buildings. Given this mindset, I am glad that the Tribune editorial board is not teaching my child. The notion that Chicago’s kids are one day away from failure is profoundly pessimistic, and we should reject the notion that things like fighting for equitable and enriching public education, defending LGBTQIA folks, and trying to stop ICE from carrying out their bullying raids, kidnapping, and murder is something that is distant political work only to be carried out in governmental buildings.
On the contrary, we should seek to instill in our kids and in our communities the conviction that we all have a role to play and that we can make change and better the world collectively, together. Indeed, as we know from all the movements for justice in this country that the Tribune editorial board may have missed in history class, this indeed is what it always takes to change the world. At this current historical moment, with the nightmare of Trump’s actions and policies swirling around us, it is urgent that Chicago’s teachers are joining with others around the country to say now is the moment, and that we can all participate–indeed we should participate–in raising our voice and playing an active role in history.
Opinions expressed in signed articles do not necessarily represent the views of the editors or the Tempest Collective. For more information, see “About Tempest Collective.”
Featured Image credit: Environmental Protection Agency; modified by Tempest.
