Fired Black educators file lawsuit against Chicago Public Schools over wrongful termination organized by CAUSE
News conference regarding the illegal do not hire list by the Chicago Public Schools that's keeping black educators out of the system and helping their own communities thrive and strive. Sister Rosita Chatonda organized this event to bring attention to the lawsuit that black educators are being excluded from the public school system as part of the gentrification of the city of Chicago.
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Fired Black educators file lawsuit against Chicago Public Schools over wrongful termination organized by Rosita Chatonda
By FOX 32 News
Published 1 hour ago
FOX 32 Chicago
Former Chicago Public School teachers suing district for wrongful termination
Several educators are suing CPS. The federal class action lawsuit was filed by Black veteran CPS teachers who say they were wrongfully terminated.
CHICAGO - A group of Black veteran teachers have filed a federal class action lawsuit against the Chicago Public Schools claiming they were wrongfully terminated.
A statement from the Chicago Alliance of Urban School Educators (CAUSE) said CPS has also blacklisted many qualified teachers from being rehired.
"CPS secretly maintained an illegal "do not hire list" through which the mostly Black veteran teachers who had already been unjustly terminated were unknowingly blocked from being hired when they applied for other jobs for which they were qualified within the vast CPS system," the statement said. "This practice forced the terminated teachers to seek work in suburban school districts, move out of state to seek jobs in their profession, seek jobs in Indiana or seek lesser jobs in other fields."
The group claimed the teachers were frequently replaced by less experienced, non-Black teachers.
CAUSE members also said there is a direct correlation between the illegal firing of thousands of Black teachers and the sudden escalation of youth violence including carjackings within the city.
"The veteran Black teachers often served as conflict resolvers and violence preventers in schools through sometimes having taught and/or coached several members of the same family and thereby having built a rapport and familiarity with the family," the statement said.
FOX 32 News has reached out to CPS for comment but have yet to hear back.
TV coverage of the news conference
CAUSE Action Today
- We need more Black Educators in our schools. Press Conference Today 3:00pm 03/31/22@ 64th & University (Wasdworth School) https://goo.gl/maps/EwEj2RUeYSigknVe8
Numerous Former, Mostly Black Veteran CPS Teachers Are Planning to File a Federal Class Action Complaint Soon Due to Unlawful Terminations and Deceptive and Illegal Rehiring Policies That They Experienced.
A press conference will be held on Thursday March 31, 2022, at 64th and University in the Woodlawn area in front of the closed Wadsworth school campus at 3:00 p.m.
The press conference will be hosted by members and supporters of CAUSE—which is an acronym for Chicago Alliance of Urban School Educators.
Over a period of a relatively short period of time over 10,000 from the years 2000 to 2022. These educators are mostly Black African Americans, and many are highly qualified teachers were terminated from the CPS (Chicago Public Schools) under the guise of temporary layoffs.
Consequently, the wrongfully terminated veteran teachers suffered hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost wages, pension benefits, medical benefits, and other job-related benefits. Furthermore, the CPS secretly maintained an illegal “do not hire list” through which the mostly Black veteran teachers who had already been unjustly terminated were unknowingly blocked from being hired when they applied for other jobs for which they were qualified within the vast CPS system. This practice forced the terminated teachers to seek work in suburban school districts, move out of state to seek jobs in their profession, seek jobs in Indiana or seek lesser jobs in other fields.
Additionally, the experienced, state licensed, and very qualified Black teachers were very routinely replaced by less experienced and often unlicensed non-Black and younger teachers.
The CAUSE members and their supporters feel that there is a direct correlation between the illegal firing of thousands of Black teachers and the sudden escalation of youth violence such as carjackings within the city of Chicago, for the veteran Black teachers often served as conflict interrupters.
Please join us for this news conference.
By: Vivian Jamison
I am interested in this lawsuit, I was put on the do not hire list in 2012
I was placed on the do not hire list after 2 evaluations in 2011-2012 school year. The CTU could not help me, when I filed for assistance. I had to work at alternative schools, which housed CPS students. I got payed much less for my experience as a certified teacher with CPS. I even wrote Letters to a special department at CPS to take the Do No Hire off my record with CPS, which was declined twice.