On the eve of Earth Day, LNS and the Chicago Teachers Union held a webinar [link] describing CTU’s unprecedented contract embodying Green Schools and Climate Justice — and how it was won. The panel featured not only teachers but a parent and a community environmental justice advocate.
The agreement gives teachers more control over the buildings they work in and ensuring that all students can learn in school buildings that are healthy, safe, and environmentally sustainable. The contract charts a new direction of investment and expansion of sustainable community including:
- A more than tripling of the number of Sustainable Community Schools, from 20 to 70, over the course of the agreement.
- A Green Schools initiation of additional resources and collaboration to remediate lead, asbestos and mold in aging school buildings while upgrading to green energy with environmentally sustainable technology, materials and practices.
- Creation of a joint Green Schools and Climate Preparedness Committee that forces the district to work with the union to secure specific funding for green facilities initiatives and collaborate on an updated Climate Action Plan by the end of the 25-26 SY.
To see the webinar: “How Chicago Teachers Won Big for Climate”
Watch the video of teachers speaking about what this contract means for their students, schools and community.
For a report by participants on how the CTA won: https://labornotes.org/2025/