CPS May 1 Closure Fight Tests Incoming CEO Macquline King

Chicago Public Schools will stay open May 1, at least for now, after interim CEO Macquline King rejected calls from board members and the Chicago Teachers Union to cancel classes for a nationwide protest day.

King, who takes over permanently July 1, said Thursday she recommended keeping schools in session. She told the board it must hold a special meeting and take a formal vote “as soon as possible” if members want to override her.

“Our staff, students and families need a clear understanding of what to expect on May 1,” King said.

The standoff sets up what could be a defining early moment for King’s tenure. Board members remain split, the union has filed a formal grievance, and Mayor Brandon Johnson has already weighed in on the other side.

A majority of board members support closing schools that day. The union wants the day designated as a teacher-directed professional development session, which would keep students home and free teachers to participate in the national “no school, no work, no shopping” action. CTU officials say the protest targets tax policy, immigration enforcement, and school funding cuts connected to the Trump administration.

It’s a politically loaded situation King didn’t create but will have to resolve.

The dispute broke into the open Wednesday, when a memo King sent to board members leaked. Dated Tuesday, the memo laid out her reasoning for keeping schools open: continuity of instruction, supervised environments for students, and access to free meals. She also cited a survey showing that 113 schools, roughly one-fifth of the district, already had May 1 activities scheduled, including field trips, college-decision day events, sports competitions, and make-up AP testing. Just over 100 schools reported out-of-school activities like prom and senior night.

Those events required “months of planning and financial commitments,” King wrote, and rescheduling them this close to the end of the year would be hard.

The union didn’t wait long to respond. CTU president Stacy Davis Gates sent a letter Monday claiming CPS violated its contract by failing to schedule a required professional development day for the 2025-26 school year in coordination with the union. That grievance, if it holds, could give the union a contractual basis to push for May 1 as that day, effectively making the closure a labor issue rather than a political one.

The contractual argument shifts the stakes considerably. If the Chicago Teachers Union can show the district skipped a required step in the school calendar process, King and the board don’t just face a political fight. They face a legal one.

Mayor Johnson’s position makes the math harder for King. Johnson, a former CTU organizer, told the Chicago Sun-Times he supports letting students miss school May 1. He’s not the one who signs off on the calendar, but his backing of the union’s position carries weight with board members he helped shape. King, who answers to that same board, can’t ignore the signal.

The broader national context matters here. May 1 actions are being organized across multiple cities, with teachers unions and labor groups pushing a coordinated response to federal education funding cuts and immigration policy. Chicago’s decision won’t happen in isolation. What CPS does will draw attention from districts watching to see how a major urban system handles the pressure.

Reporting by Block Club Chicago and Chalkbeat first surfaced the details of King’s memo and the union’s grievance letter.

For families across the city, from Pilsen to Pullman, the uncertainty is already causing problems. Parents trying to arrange child care or figure out whether to send kids to school on a Friday at the end of April don’t have an answer yet. King’s statement Thursday acknowledged that directly.

King has a narrow window. If the board calls a special meeting and votes to close schools, she’ll have to implement a decision she publicly opposed. If the board doesn’t act, schools stay open and the union’s anger intensifies. Either way, she starts her permanent tenure with a fight she didn’t pick.

The Chicago Board of Education has not yet announced a date for a special meeting.