Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union are calling on federal lawmakers to provide additional funds as they struggle with thousands of migrant students entering public schools.
Teacher and student advocates argue that migrant students are struggling to learn in classes in English, and many require basic needs such as winter clothing. At least 5,000 migrant children have enrolled in CPS.
Gabriel Paez, a bilingual language coordinator, joined Chicago Teachers Union President Stacey Davis Gates and American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten for a roundtable on Wednesday to discuss the issue.
“The city doesn’t have the capacity, and the city doesn’t have the infrastructure to shoulder this crisis,” Davis Gates said. “The school district needs more because the young people need more … and these needs will not be met alone by the district or by the city.”
The CTU is asking for more bilingual educators, more course instruction in multiple languages, 100% of tuition costs for current teachers to receive their bilingual certifications, and a migrant coordinator in each school that enrolls new migrant arrivals. The union covers roughly 50% of endorsement programs for interested teachers, which can cost up to $8,000 in Illinois.
“Don’t force teachers to pay for a program the school district needs,” Weingarten said.
Since August 2022, nearly 38,000 immigrants have arrived in Chicago from Texas. Many migrant students attending CPS schools live in city-run shelters. The 60-day shelter limit is currently on pause by Mayor Brandon Johnson because of the city’s extreme winter weather.
Cameron Elementary School in Humboldt Park has enrolled over 120 migrant students on top of the dozens of students who arrived last school year. According to the Chicago Tribune, 126 newcomer students are living in temporary housing situations. The school has been able to provide every student with bilingual education in both English and Spanish through fifth grade, the outlet said.
Paez said CPS has always struggled with having a shortage of bilingual certified teachers, which is now combined with a lack of coordinators able to provide wraparound services, Paez said.
“It is the most challenging thing I have ever done in my life, and I’ve been doing this in this neighborhood for 11 years,” Paez said. “I’ve never experienced anything like it.”
“The best thing you can do for a child who is newly arrived is to allow them time with a teacher who speaks their language and is trained in language acquisition,” he added. “We need people working solely on newcomer families and helping them.”
The school district said in a statement that it has already spent millions of dollars on increasing CPS staffing and services, but the city is finding itself tapped out and unable to provide for the resources that the students still need. CPS said it has filled 96% of full-time bilingual teaching positions — in total, the district employs approximately 3,000 teachers with bilingual certifications, which is up from 2,100 in 2017.
“We are working with the City, partners from across the State, the Chicago Congressional Delegation, and the United States Department of Education to secure additional funding to support our newcomers,” the statement said.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Weingarten said the ATF would donate 50,000 multilingual books for children in the district. She said she would continue to push the White House to provide more help to the city, encouraging Chicago and Illinois residents to push federal administrators for the same.
“When mayors and governors work together on this end and go to Washington together, that actually is really helpful,” the ATF president said.