Chicago City Wire

The Chicago Teachers Union is publishing a scab list, according to documents leaked from a private Facebook group.

CTU represents Chicago’s 21,000 teachers. The labor union members voted 73 percent in favor of closing Chicago schools to the city’s more than 340,000 schoolchildren in the third largest school district by population in the country.

A meme published on the private Facebook page asked, “Is CTU publishing a ‘scab’ list?”

“As a delegate, I will be reporting the names of members who go in,” teacher Alex R. Forgue said in response.

Forgue’s comments were pointed at teachers who considered coming in to teach at the request of principals.

In response Gina Lynette asked “to the Union or publicly to staff as well?”

The union favors online only learning until Jan. 24, meant to stem the omicron COVID-19 variant from spreading in the city’s schools.

Forgue is a teacher at Chicago Military Academy in Bronzeville. His Facebook page is awash with photos of Forgue at leftist protests including a photo of him holding a sign reading "f--- Trump." 

The Chicago Military Academy is a small high school serving just over 300 students. 

According to CPS data, the school had not reported a case of COVID-19 since Dec. 17 when it reported two. Only two other cases were reported in November 2021. 

With no recorded coronavirus at the school, it is unclear why Forgue and others participated in the “work action.”

Another meme celebrated the extended vacation, noting “I am hoping for two more days like today” and picturing a middle-aged bespectacled man.

The Lightfoot administration acceded by closing school after CTU and its members sought to delay the return of in-person learning after Christmas break.

Amy Jacobson, co-host of AM560’s The Morning Answer, poked Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Twitter over the leaked messages.

“See @chicagosmayor who you are dealing with? Take Charge! Yeah right @CTULocal1 you care about our kids,” she tweeted.

Gubernatorial candidate Jesse Sullivan has been outspoken in his opposition to the CTU strike.

As part of his campaign, Sullivan is advocating for “school choice,” in which private schools receive benefits. Chicago Public Schools noted a steep decline in students enrollment, having lost 10,000 students in 2021.

"Last year, Governor J.B. Pritzker signed House Bill 2275, giving the teachers union more power than virtually every government union in the nation, allowing them to bargain over everything from class schedules to hours and places of instruction,” he said. “It was just another example of how Pritzker was willing to sacrifice the best interests of our children for his own political gain.”

The CTU telegraphed the move in a poll mulling the “work action” prior to the previously announced end to the break.