Chance the Rapper threw his support behind the Chicago Teachers Union Monday on as the union continues to work towards an agreement with Chicago Public Schools over reopening.
“I’m praying for all the teachers and staff in Chicago today,” he wrote in a tweet. “This s- - - is unfair and unsafe.”
I’m praying for all the teachers and staff in Chicago today. This shit is unfair and unsafe.
— Chance The Rapper (@chancetherapper) February 1, 2021
The Chicago native is a graduate of Jones College Prep, located downtown. Chance has been a vocal advocate of the Chicago Teachers Union over the years.
His tweet was greeted by teachers and their supporters with enthusiasm.
Ald. Rossana Rodriguez Sanchez (33rd), a former drama teacher in Puerto Rico and member of the Progressive Caucus on the City Council, tweeted: “Chicago teachers and staff, I’m so sorry about what this Mayor and CPD leadership is doing to you. You don’t deserve this and we are standing right next to you. We got your back.”
Chance supported the teachers throughout the 2019 strike and wore a bright red CTU shirt while hosting “Saturday Night Live” during the strike that October.
“I fully support you,” he said at the time. “I just wish that when I was in school, my teachers had gone on a strike.”
The school system put off the planned return of up to 67,000 preschool through eighth-grade students who opted in for in-person learning — about one-third of those children who were eligible — until later in the week Monday.
Negotiations between the district and the union are still ongoing.
