Perspective: I believe her; the CTU president said what she said about disabled CPS students

Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Stacy Davis Gates made headlines earlier this month for something that has little to do with advancing the goals of her constituency. In a members-only meeting, she reportedly mocked outgoing Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Pedro Martinez by describing him as a special education student who can’t be suspended.

It was an off-the-cuff remark. A jab. The kind of thing folks who grew up playing the dozens might have said decades ago to someone on the bus stop, before we got older and knew better. It was also a statement that garnered the attention of the nation’s disability advocates and parents like me, who have children in the special education program at their local school.

Here’s the deal: It’s not cool to poke fun at children with special needs, whose caregivers fought hard to get an Individualized Education Plan (IEP) that supports them in their educational journey. It’s also not cool to use special education as a put-down. There’s nothing wrong with living with autism or ADHD or having a developmental delay or an anxiety disorder or being deaf or blind. For the leader of our teachers to haphazardly and casually refer to special education in a negative way, well that’s just tasteless. 

To be transparent, here is Davis Gates’ alleged quote as reported by the Chicago Tribune: “Pedro is the terrible student in the classroom that can’t get suspended because he should have an IEP and maxed out his days.” 

She reportedly apologized at the meeting for this supposed slip of the tongue. But the words continue to sting – even weeks later. 

I posit that she said what she said and she showed us who she is. I believe her! As the mother of a child with autism who is such a gentle boy, so anxious to learn in perfection that he cries when he gets even one word wrong on his third grade spelling tests, I am appalled that someone who talks like this — even on accident —  is actually in charge.

She spoke volumes in one sentence. She likened Martinez to a “terrible” student. She linked the notion of “terrible” students to kids who need or have IEPs. Essentially she said that “terrible” students with IEPs are the kids who get unfair special treatment and get to hang around even when they should be booted. And, that’s an altogether strange thing to say when statistics show that special needs children are overwhelmingly and unfairly targeted with school discipline that interrupts their federally-protected assists and jeopardizes their wellbeing.

Historically, special needs children are suspended without cause from school districts. This is why disability advocates fight so hard for the rights of these children. 

To be clear, I agree that problematic kids — and adults — should be suspended from school if they are violent and overly disruptive. However, for Davis Gates to insinuate, with her oddly-worded put-down, that the only kids who are disruptive are kids with IEPs, or kids who need an IEP, is inappropriate for a woman of her station. It casually reinforces a false and dangerous equivalency between ability and legitimized proximity to education.

Davis Gates’ words spilled out because the union and CPS officials are negotiating right now. Everyone wants something; no one wants to appear to acquiesce and everyone has a grievance. They’ve been doing this dance for decades. In this latest chapter, the CPS CEO was terminated, and his last day is in a few months. He is allowed to finish the school year — hence Davis Gates’ frustration that he can’t be removed. 

IEPs provide supports for children with special needs. Sometimes that means a kid gets extra help in a classroom, or extra time to complete his schoolwork or the ability to use the bathroom when needed instead of when allowed. Some 15.6% of the 321,668 kids enrolled in CPS have an IEP, per the state of Illinois. Of those kids, 38.5% of them are Black and 49% of them are Hispanic. Whites comprise a mere 8.6% of children with IEPs in CPS. 

Most of the kids with IEPs here are kids of color. 

I reached out to an expert to help me parse through my understanding of Davis Gates’ statement and its subsequent apology.

Karen Tamley is the president and CEO of Access Living, a Chicago organization that centers service, advocacy, and social change for people with all kinds of disabilities. It’s also run by people with disabilities. She told me she fielded numerous calls about David Gates’ current, and some former, statements.

“You’re using disabled people like a weapon to insult other people and that’s just not OK with us,” she said to me. “You can apologize but you said something on the tip of your tongue. It just shows that people do have unconscious biases that need to be checked and they need to be held accountable for.”

Other disability advocates underscored the blatant stereotyping.

“I am deeply concerned and offended,” said John Jamros, the CEO of Equip for Equality. “Such statements perpetuate harmful stereotypes about students with disabilities and undermine the progress we have made toward inclusivity and understanding.”

I reached out to the CTU for comment, but haven’t gotten a response.

I understand that the CTU and the city are in a drop dead, drag out fight for the best terms of their lives. I know they have work to do, that frustrations are high, that taxes are ultra high, that salaries are low, and that the budget is beyond tight. However, the disability slander is unacceptable. In my own industry, HR would have hit me with a Friday meeting, several weeks of mandatory training and possibly a performance improvement plan.

Going forward, I hope the CTU and Martinez can negotiate without causing further harm to these kids. The bar isn’t that high here folks. The leaders simply have to do better.