CTU President Stacy Davis Gates demands CPS absorb closing Acero charter schools

Days after Acero charter schools leaders voted to close seven schools, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates wrote a letter demanding that Chicago Public Schools absorb them into the district in order to save them.

The closures — which will begin in June 2025 and impact about 2,000 students, or nearly a third of all Acero students — include Casas, Cisneros, Fuentes, Paz, Santiago and Tamayo elementary schools and Cruz K-12. The network of schools operates primarily in Latino neighborhoods.

In the letter delivered to CPS leadership Friday, Gates cited a resolution barring the closure of any district-managed schools through the 2026-27 school year, and said CPS must apply that rationale with charter schools by transitioning the closing schools to being district-run “with seats guaranteed for all current students and jobs guaranteed for all current staff members.”

“The incompetence, unaccountability, and mismanagement of charter school operators should have consequences,” Gates wrote in the letter. “Noncompliant charter organizations should be held accountable. What is needed is to replace the management of these schools, not to leave their students and staff members in the lurch.”

She also noted the “catastrophic consequences” of former Mayor Rahm Emmanuel’s decision to close 50 schools in 2013.

CPS wouldn't comment on Gates' letter or if it was considering making the schools district-run, but in an email to the Sun-Times, a spokesperson said the district would work with families, Acero and the district's Office of Innovation and Incubation to make sure the closures were done in accordance with its policies and to get students settled in other schools.

At the Wednesday meeting where the closures were announced, Acero CEO Richard Rodriguez cited a 1,400-student enrollment decline over eight years, increases in costs to staff and facility maintenance and the dwindling Chicago population as key factors in the decision.

Acero said remaining schools will enroll the impacted students, and town hall meetings will be held every month starting in October to update community members.

Contributing: Emmanuel Camarillo, Nader Issa, Sarah Karp