ABSTRACT
In 2012, the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) issued the groundbreaking report, The Schools Chicago’s Students Deserve. The report provided a counter-narrative to ideas popular among corporate education reformers (or de-formers, as some like to say). The problem, as shown by decades of educational research, was not the teachers. The problems in education were the result of too-large class sizes, limited curricula, inadequate facilities, not enough support personnel, and lack of adequate funding.

The CTU remains committed to doing whatever is necessary to organize and fight for the schools our students deserve. Among our priorities are improved pay and health benefits—especially for severely under- paid Paraprofessionals and School-Related Personnel (PSRPs)—lower staffing ratios, more Sustainable Community Schools, and advocacy for affordable housing. Unlike CPS, the CTU advocates for research-based policies that are known to positively impact our students’ edu- cation. SCSD 2.0 provides scaffolding for our Union’s fight.