Chicago Teachers Union president Stacy Davis Gates is coming under fire for comparing CEO Pedro Martinez to a special education student who can’t be suspended at a meeting before hundreds of elected members on Wednesday.
She apologized at the meeting, soon after she made the comment.
CTU delegates at the members-only meeting told WBEZ that Davis Gates was talking about her frustration with contract negotiations that the union says have stalled since Martinez was given a six-month notice of termination by the Board of Education in late December. There are slightly different accounts online of her comment, but two delegates interviewed by WBEZ said she disparaged Martinez by calling him a student with disabilities that couldn’t be suspended because of policy limitations.
