CPS will be in session on May 1, but agreement with CTU encourages students to attend afternoon rally

Chicago Public Schools will be in session for a full day on May 1, but it will also be an official civic day of action during which hundreds of students will be able to take a “field trip” to a massive pro-labor, anti-President Donald Trump rally.

The Chicago Teachers Union wanted the school district to cancel classes so that staff and students could participate in May Day, also known as International Workers' Day.

But CPS CEO Macquline King pushed back, saying she wanted to keep schools in session. The disagreement kicked off a firestorm of debate.

On Thursday, they agreed to a compromise.

According to an agreement between CPS and the CTU, CPS will observe May 1, 2026 as a day of districtwide civic engagement.

To that end, 100 schools will be provided with buses and bag lunches so that students can attend an afternoon May Day rally. If the district can’t find enough buses, the city will pay for bus cards.

The district will also send out guidance to school leaders regarding the importance of civic engagement and suggest ways to involve students.

The agreement says CPS cannot “retaliate against” staff who take the day off to participate in civic activities. CPS points out that state law allows students to be absent for one day for a “civic event,” but must have permission from their parents to do so.

The agreement also releases 65 educators to go to Springfield to lobby for more state funds on May 13 and May 27. Past CPS leaders have resisted releasing staff to do this kind of advocacy, even though the school district is in dire need of increased funding, largely due to the way the state funds schools.

And the memo designates May 1 the next time May Day falls on a school day, as a teacher-directed professional day, which teachers could use for civic action. The agreement also creates a “May Day task force” between the district and CTU to “implement curriculum and school-based activities.”

Bridget Doherty Trebing, a teacher at Taft High School on the Northwest Side, said she thinks this compromise accomplishes CTU’s goal. She called the agreement “groundbreaking.”

“We have been asking all along to be in partnership with the district and it sounds like that is what has happened,” she said. “My students have been directly asking, when are more adults going to take a stand? They're paying attention to what's happening in the world. So this is a day that I think students are wanting to see.”

In a statement released Friday, King also said CPS accomplished its goal.

“This agreement preserves the classroom time students deserve and respects our staff and families who must be able to trust CPS to uphold the academic school year calendar,” King said. “At the same time, the agreement honors the proud history of civic action in Chicago and beyond.”

CPS officials stress that participation in May Day events is “completely voluntary and at the discretion of school leaders.”

“No student is obligated to participate; they can opt to stay in school. No staff member is obligated to participate, nor are staff excused from normal duty for the purposes of their own participation,” according to the district’s statement.

The CTU has been planning for a “no school, no work, no shopping” protest on May 1 for more than a year.

It’s long been a day to show support for labor unions and raise concerns about the government’s actions, but it's taken on new meaning this year as activists call for boycotting work to protest President Donald Trump’s mass deportation campaign and other policies enacted by his administration.

But for weeks, it was unclear who was calling the shots about May Day.

As recently as Thursday morning, Mayor Brandon Johnson said during an appearance on WBEZ that he had directed his chief of staff and other city agencies to figure out logistics around the day. The CTU credited Johnson for helping come up with this compromise.

“If we’re going to transform our economies, if we’re gonna push for the ultra wealthy to pay their fair share in taxes, voices of working people, every day people have to rise up,” he told WBEZ.

On Friday, he put out a statement, saying he was “pleased all parties are working together to ensure school communities can participate.”

The CTU thought King would go along with their plan after the school board took an informal vote in a closed session last week that showed the majority of members supported canceling school.

But even after that vote, King pushed back, saying she wanted an instructional day for students.

One Future Illinois, a super PAC that plans to be involved in the upcoming school board election, even commissioned a poll asking voters whether they thought CPS should be in session. Just over half opposed the idea of canceling school, while 40% said they were on board with school being canceled.

Gov. JB Pritzker also threw cold water on the idea of canceling classes for May Day when he was asked about it on Thursday.

“I think we need to make sure that our kids are getting every day of education that they deserve, and that parents demand,” Pritzker said. “Political operators trying to determine what the calendar should be for kids seems inappropriate.”