Chicago Public Schools CEO Macquline King rejected a request from the teachers union to cancel classes on May 1, but, facing pressure from City Hall and its allies in the district, said the board could ultimately overrule her decision.
In a statement late Thursday, she reiterated her opposition to the Chicago Teachers Union’s “Civic Day of Action,” but noted the board can take formal vote on the issue. She previously argued that canceling classes would significantly disrupt the district.
“My recommendation to the Chicago Board of Education for weeks and again during this week’s Agenda Review Committee meeting, has been to maintain May 1 as an instructional day for students,” King said. “As a career educator, I believe every minute in the classroom is vital for our students.”
King urged the board to call a special meeting in order to make a decision “as soon as possible.”
In an internal memo written Tuesday and obtained by the Tribune, King detailed her rationale to the board — and disputed CTU’s claim that her decision would violate its contract with the district.
But during a closed-door meeting Wednesday, she faced fierce opposition from board members aligned with CTU and appointed by Mayor Brandon Johnson, who make up the majority of the 21-member body, sources told the Tribune. Some board members said they left the meeting with the impression that King would reconsider.
CTU-backed board members suggested King confer with Johnson.
Addressing King earlier on Thursday, board President Sean Harden — a Johnson appointee — wrote he “affirms the Board’s support of you executing the next steps necessary to operationalize a day of civic action,” according to a letter obtained by the Tribune.
Canceling class would likely trigger disruptions across the district. A survey found that a nonattendance day would affect on-site events at 113 schools, including activities such as field trips, AP testing and athletic events, according to the memo. Another 102 schools could be affected for off-site events, including proms and senior nights.
“Our core responsibility remains ensuring the safety, supervision, continuity of instruction and preservation of key student experiences,” King wrote in the memo, prior to consulting with the board.
In March, the CTU House of Delegates, the union’s highest governing body, approved a resolution to join the national day for “No Work, No School and No Shopping” on May 1, aimed at protesting federal policies and advocating for causes like immigrant and labor rights. The day would include activities on civic education and “mass resistance training,” according to the resolution.
Since then, CTU has urged CPS officials and Mayor Brandon Johnson to excuse teachers and students from class to participate. The union represents more than 30,000 teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel across the district.
CTU requested that the district swap May 1, a scheduled instructional day for students, and June 5, a professional development day, according to the memo. After King’s initial refusal, CTU filed a grievance Tuesday.
Under CTU’s four-year, $1.5 billion agreement, CPS and the union agreed that they would jointly select and approve professional development days. But that provision doesn’t apply until the 2026-27 school year, according to the memo.
At the time of bargaining — which wrapped up in March last year — CPS had already selected a date for professional development for the 2025-26 school year.
“This timeline was intentional and reflected an agreement to maintain the instructional days already in place for the current year … there is no contractual basis for the requested relief,” King wrote.
Under state law, CTU also can’t legally organize a one-day strike on May 1, according to the memo. Strikes are only legal if a bargaining agreement has expired or terminated, and CTU is currently mid-contract with a no-strike clause in place, King wrote.
And while the state’s school code allows middle and high school students to take an excused absence each year for a “civic event,” it’s unclear if CTU’s plan for May Day would fall under that designation. Typically, such an event must be sponsored by nonprofit organizations or a government agency, according to the memo.
Kia Banks, president of the Chicago Principals & Administrators Association, told the Tribune that she was concerned about wider consequences of canceling classes on short notice for families and principals.
“There is such a vast range of impact, not just interrupting instruction,” Banks said. “It would (be) extremely complicated to coordinate.”
May 1 is also known as International Workers’ Day, and is closely tied to the progressive labor movement. Several other Chicago unions have echoed CTU’s call to participate.
“The building block of a public school education is this idea of community and the institutions that help to anchor and fortify it,” CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said at a press conference Wednesday. “So on May Day … we’re going to teach people how to create community because that is the example and the amplification and the illustration of solidarity.”
Johnson has for months aired his support for a nationwide general strike. Asked about canceling classes on WBEZ’s “In The Loop” last month, Johnson did not take a clear stance, but signaled his support.
He carefully noted that such “civic days” are allowed under state law and said working people across the country are bearing “the weight of a sluggish economy while the ultra rich continue to get richer.” More school funding is needed, and securing that funding requires political pressure, he said.
Pressed further on whether a day off for students is appropriate, Johnson raised two questions: “What do we want? And how do we believe we can get?”
“We are experiencing unprecedented levels of attacks against the gains that our ancestors made,” he said. “If we believe for one minute that the way in which we are going to receive our God-given rights is by just simply asking questions or having town halls without or absent taking it to the streets, we are missing the moment.”
Tribune reporters Jake Sheridan and Gregory Royal Pratt contributed.
