How CPS teachers plan to weather the strike financially
Adam Loredo, a middle school English teacher at Hamilton Elementary, said he’s been saving “voraciously” since last year to prepare for a possible strike.
“Right now I’m living frugally and trying to use our savings wisely,” he said. “Unfortunately it’s part of the culture that we know that we have to save our money. Some of us have to live paycheck to paycheck.”
The last full paycheck for work done before the strike hit Chicago teachers’ bank accounts Friday. Though some teachers said they have been saving money since last year, others say the strike will put a financial dent on their families, especially in early November, when teachers will receive their strike-weeks checks and get paid for just three school days of work.
Adele Jones, an international baccalaureate coordinator at Mollison Elementary
School, said the teachers union last year recommended teachers save for a possible strike.
“It’s a lot of saving. You save for the summer and you save for the strike,” Jones said. “But definitely there are teachers having financial hardship right now.”
Jones said she knows teachers who are working side jobs, such as delivering food.
“Sometimes you do whatever you need to do to support your family,” she added.
Many teachers, some supported financially by partners or spouses, have been feeling a financial burden since well before the strike. Jennifer Gillingham, an AP psychology and government/politics teacher at Lincoln Park High School, said that her husband, a teacher at a non-CPS school in Chicago, works two jobs to support the family. In addition to teaching, he also coaches a baseball team, working around 80 hours per week.
“We already worked three jobs in our household without a strike, so this will hit us pretty hard,” she said as her children raced around her playing with sticks outside of Lincoln Park High School on Thursday morning.
Her son Scooter, 2, and daughter Sally, 4, attend day care in Cicero, where tuition is more affordable. They considered a free CPS preschool for the children, but said before-school care is no longer offered there.
“As two teachers, we can’t afford city child care,” Gillingham said.
Bills, including student loans, aren’t put on hold for the strike, she said.
Maria Vargas, a second grade teacher at Grissom Elementary, said that in her household, which includes her husband and two elementary school children, she makes the most money, and so when she’s not getting paid, the household feels the strain.
“I may have to take out a loan just to keep me afloat,” Vargas said.
Feeling the financial burden of forgone pay, members of the CTU in good standing have the opportunity to take out a “strike loan” at United
Credit Union. The credit union has teamed up with the Illinois Federation of Teachers to offer $300 weekly loans to teachers to ease financial burden of the strike, said Mayra Avila, marketing manager for the credit union.
“We understand that not everyone would qualify for a standard personal loan and our goal is to try to assist all teachers in their time of need,” she said.