The Weekly Show: 4/25/25

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hello, and welcome to the weekly show here on iHeartRadio
on ninety three nine one FM, one on three five
Kiss FM, and Rock ninety five to five. Every week,
we're here to discuss a variety of topics that matter
to Chicagoland, from health, education, to finances and so much more.
Today on the show, Melissa Foreman chats with Paul's Chicago
talking about the increased availability of kitten adoptions.

Speaker 2 (00:20):
I love that.

Speaker 1 (00:21):
And of course Brady and Whitney Reynolds are back for
another episode of Whitney's Women.

Speaker 2 (00:26):
And then I.

Speaker 1 (00:27):
Paulina Roe, am chatting with Stacy Davis Gates and we
are talking about the CTU contract here in Chicago for
our CPS teachers and faculty. Let's kick off the show. Hi,
good afternoon. It is Paulina here with iHeartMedia Chicago on
the Community Affairs Weekly Show. And today I am chatting
with CTU President Stacy Davis Gates.

Speaker 2 (00:48):
How are you today? I'm doing well. Thank you for
having me. How are you? I'm good. I'm so good.

Speaker 1 (00:54):
I'm glad that you're able to connect with us and
our audience. You know, obviously a lot of our listeners
here in Chicago chicagoand area. Are you know either they
have attended a CPS school such as myself Kirie High
School shout out class of twenty ten. Or of course
you know, we have a lot of our listeners, our
staff at a lot of schools here in the city.
So I think it's really awesome to have you on personally,

(01:16):
to bring you on the show. And of course we
are talking about d c TU contract, and of course
we have our questions here ready for you as well.
If you don't mind really quickly, can you sort of
give us a little bit of a brief background about
yourself for those who may not be as familiar.

Speaker 2 (01:34):
Thank you for this, and shout out to Currie.

Speaker 3 (01:38):
They had a tremendous boys basketball season and the girls'
soccer team is doing pretty good this season as well.

Speaker 2 (01:46):
So I'm sure you make them all very very proud.

Speaker 1 (01:50):
They're so awesome over there.

Speaker 2 (01:51):
I love it. Yeah, no, this is good.

Speaker 3 (01:54):
Like so, I'm a high school history teacher and so
you would be my pride and enjoy right now now,
I probably wouldn't stop talking about you. In fact, one
of the lawyers who helped to negotiate this contract is
my former student, LaToya kimbro So, I know the amount

(02:15):
of pride that teachers have. And you know, I met
LaToya at Inglewood Tech Prep High School on the South
Side of Chicago and in twenty oh for five school
years she was a senior, and Arnie Duncan, who was
a CEO at the time, he came to our.

Speaker 2 (02:34):
School and closed it.

Speaker 3 (02:35):
But LaToya organized her students to challenge it and to
resist it. Short of the loan, the school closed and LaToya,
you know, graduated from law school, passed the bar on
the first time, and she negotiated what is being called
a landmark contract for the Chicago Teachers Union. So I'm

(02:59):
a teacher through and through. I'm a mom of three,
I'm a soccer mom. I am very passionate about young
people having the ability to explore life within the school setting,
both co curricular and extracurricular, and you know, we put
a lot of that vision and motivation and goal setting

(03:23):
in this contract process.

Speaker 1 (03:25):
Oh absolutely, I love it, and I love your story
and I love that. You know, you said I'm a
teacher through and through, and I feel like that's something
you carry with you forever.

Speaker 3 (03:33):
You know, absolutely, Like, look, this is hard work, you know,
I never understood how difficult it would be to push
for school communities to start rebuilding libraries. It was a
tough issue to negotiate at the table, and we are
going to do that. But we're gonna do that, you know,

(03:56):
as much as we can with this contract. So you know,
we'll get a one hundred new library, school libraries and
librarians by the end of this contract. That is a
significant advancement for the district. And yet it still won't
be enough. So even though we celebrate that, we are
also in the space of challenging our Board of Education,

(04:20):
which is now partially elected, to do more because we
need more.

Speaker 2 (04:26):
Oh absolutely so.

Speaker 1 (04:28):
Kind of going off of that, where does the current
contract stand as of today? And today is just for
those listening we're recording on April twenty third, twenty twenty five.
Are are things signed and done? Are we getting there?
Where does it stand right now?

Speaker 3 (04:39):
Great question? So there are many parts to how the
union lands a contract. We believe in a tremendous amount
of democracy at the Chicago Teachers Union sixty five rank
and file members who work with young people in the
school communities.

Speaker 2 (04:58):
Those people negotiated this contract.

Speaker 3 (05:01):
Like I said, I'm a high school history teacher, and
we negotiate special education by lingual services, immigrant and sanctuary
services within this contract. I don't have expertise in all
of those areas, and we have members who do, so
those are the people who participated in negotiating it. And

(05:22):
then we have an executive board and a House of Delegates.
In each level of those rank and file members get
an opportunity to touch it, fell it, see it, ask questions,
may be sure it's the thing that they need, and
then they vote on it. So the Chicago Teachers' Union,

(05:42):
eighty five percent of our members voted on the contract
and ninety seven percent of them say yes, which is
the highest ratification vote that this union has ever seen.
It's significant. The step we're in now is at the
next Board of Education meeting, they will have to approve

(06:02):
the contract. Because it's collective bargaining, we enter into an
exercise and engagement that gives both parties what it needs,
or it is supposed to give both parties what it.

Speaker 2 (06:14):
Needs to move our young people forward.

Speaker 3 (06:17):
And if I'm very transparent, I've been involved in the twelve,
the sixteen, and the nineteen negotiations for the CPS contract,
and I will tell you that I think that this
contract has wins for every stakeholder.

Speaker 4 (06:34):
I love that.

Speaker 1 (06:34):
I actually wanted to speak on that as well. So
in terms of our teachers, right, our educators and a
lot of our listeners are teachers, whether they are at
a CPS school or another school here in Chicago Chicagoland area.
What are some of the benefits or perks, if you will,
right of this particular contract for our teachers, Like, what
is in a sense, what isn't it for them?

Speaker 2 (06:55):
Right?

Speaker 1 (06:56):
That'll obviously enhance their experience as a teacher.

Speaker 2 (06:58):
You know, that's an interesting quest because we rarely answer
it like that.

Speaker 3 (07:02):
I don't know if it's because you know, our union
is eighty percent female, and we tend to put others
before us. So this is how we've answered the question
in our bargaining sessions. What's good for young people? Because
if it's good for young people, it's.

Speaker 2 (07:18):
Good for us as well.

Speaker 3 (07:20):
It's kind of like when you become a mom, one
of the first things people tell you is make sure
you are keeping that kid busy and occupied and engaged,
because your life will be better. It's the same thing
for us in the classroom. If young people have art, music,

(07:41):
physical education, world technology, world languages, not ores, but and
they're going to have a more rounded experience. And this
contract gives us more art to educators. So it's no
longer do you have art or physical education. You get
to have art and physical education. How does that help

(08:01):
the teacher? It gives our young people more in the
school day before our.

Speaker 2 (08:07):
Elementary school teachers.

Speaker 3 (08:08):
It gives them an opportunity to prepare more and depthly
for their instruction during their work day. So it works
well for children and it works for them. The same
thing quite frankly, for recess. This contract gives our young
people thirty minutes of mandated recess at the elementary school level.

(08:28):
I think, I don't know how we believe young people
are supposed to sit still all day and just be attentive.
You know, adults have a difficult time performing that task.
So yeah, young people will get that thirty minutes and
we're happy about that. So when young people will win
that advancement, our members win preparation time. So has there

(08:53):
can be win wins in this And then the district
benefits from having teachers who are well prepared and young
people who have figured out conflict resolution. Conflict resolution is
a skill we learned on the playground nine times out
of ten.

Speaker 1 (09:12):
Yeah, I one hundred percent agree with that, And I
think it's important to discuss this though, too, just because,
like I do feel like personally, my experience with my
teachers at my brother it was grammar school, great, grade
school or high school have always been so positive because
I felt like the teachers were, in a sense, you know,
always there to support us whatever, whether it was right

(09:32):
emotionally obviously it was it was through education, through learning.
I don't know, I believe teachers played such a big role.
And you know this too, you know, obviously coming from
that background, Like you know, we remember you guys forever,
and I think that's like so important, you know, moving
on and growing up and everything. So I think I
think this will be a good thing for everyone, including,
like you said, students and making sure that they have

(09:52):
what they need. I did really quickly want to touch
on class size reductions. I know that I believe this
contract does include sort of to lower the class sizes
at every grade level. So I'm curious how the teacher
you will measure the effectiveness excuse me, of these reductions
and improving student academic outcomes, obviously, particularly in under resource communities.

(10:13):
Is there kind of like a plan with that as well.

Speaker 3 (10:16):
Absolutely, there's a plan with that, and that's a wonderful question.
So the highlight of this is that next school year,
kindergarteners will be entering classrooms where there are only twenty
three students and there's a teacher and there's a teacher assistant.
That is a significant advancement that helps those young people,

(10:38):
and it helps at a time where our young people
are early learners, and that is a time in which
research continues to show that smaller class sizes are most effectual.
Beyond that, class size is something that will be monitored
very closely, will be create, class lists, will be created

(11:01):
well before August. So we're hoping to see class sizes
leveled out in August and not the twentieth day of school,
which happens in September. So the benefit of having class
sized provisions in this contract that are enforceable, maximums that
are enforceable, is that parents will know, educators will know,

(11:26):
principles will know how many kids are going to be
in a classroom by August, and we will be able
to have classes leveled out in a way that promotes
you know, best practices from the very beginning of the
school year instead of waiting, waiting and waiting. There's a
committee that gets to monitor implementation, troubleshoot, and help make

(11:51):
better in situations where you know, there is some barriers
to implementation.

Speaker 2 (11:58):
So that's how we're going to old class size.

Speaker 3 (12:02):
But the expectation is in the planning and landing of
the numbers prior to school starting until instead of the
twentieth day.

Speaker 1 (12:11):
I love it. I love it, and really quickly, just
to sort of wrap up, are there any kind of
last points that you would love to share here on
the show with our listeners in regard to the CTU
contract that you know you'd like to kind of just
you know, end with.

Speaker 3 (12:25):
You know, one of the things that I think is
magical about this contract is that we have been able
to strike a balance with all stakeholders. We have families,
families that are unhoused whose students attend the Chicago Public schools.
They will have services connected from sister agencies across Chicago.

(12:48):
This is the first time we've enshrined it in the contract.

Speaker 2 (12:51):
We will have a.

Speaker 3 (12:53):
Plan for facility rehab that focuses on remediations to layup
pipes and especial and mode and aging school buildings. That
is a significant benefit. We will have academic freedoms to
make sure that we can tell the full story, the
complex story, the story of resilience you know of this country.

(13:16):
So we're gonna teach Black history, We're gonna teach Latin
a history, We're gonna teach women's history. We're gonna make
sure that people understand that America is all of us
and that's our academic freedom. And then we're also gonna
protect our children. We're gonna protect our immigrant children, We're
gonna protect our lgbt qya plus children with provisions in

(13:37):
this contract so we can both have contracts that give
faculty and staff the best twelve week parental pay leave
policy in the country for teachers and pair of professionals,
and we can also provide sanctuary to children and their families.

Speaker 1 (13:55):
Amazing. Thank you so much. We appreciate you being here today.
C to you President Stacy Davis Gates. We appreciate your time.

Speaker 3 (14:02):
Thank you so much for inviting me, and appreciate your
listeners for loving our kids in this city.

Speaker 1 (14:09):
Awesome, Thank you so much.

Speaker 2 (14:10):
Have a good one you as well.

Speaker 5 (14:12):
Back once again. It's like we just saw each other
or something. Here.

Speaker 6 (14:16):
She is the wonderful, She's everywhere, the incredible, the one
my best friend. Whitney Reynolds from the Whitney Rents Show,
welcome back.

Speaker 5 (14:22):
You know, it's.

Speaker 7 (14:23):
Always when I have that kind of intro, it's hard
to start talking because I'm just smiling so big over
tight Brady, you really are I need to have you
do my studio audiences. Oh my goodness, it is that
time again, folks. Though Whitney's Women is here on iHeart
and we have a fabulous entrepreneur that's giving back.

Speaker 4 (14:41):
Christy Roulshan. Welcome to the show.

Speaker 8 (14:44):
Thank you so much for having me.

Speaker 7 (14:45):
Yeah, we are excited to share your story. And I
know we have people that are tuning in that will
be impacted by what you're doing in this upcoming Nurses Month.
So tell us a little bit about who you are
are as a business woman here in Chicago.

Speaker 8 (15:02):
So we have a So I'm Chrissy. We have a
custom window treatment company that started very small in Chicago,
was meant to be just a real boutique company, never
intended to grow to the size it has, but we've
continued to grow and expand by working with really great

(15:25):
clients that refer us to other clients, and working with
local businesses and just finding great team members to be
part of this organization to the point where we're getting
to a size that we really can afford to give
back in lots of different ways throughout the throughout the
Chicago Land area.

Speaker 4 (15:44):
What is incredible about that?

Speaker 7 (15:46):
For anybody listening that owns a business or has hit
a point where they can give back in big ways,
this is your sign to do it, because I feel
like it's an all hand on deck kind of movement
to give back and whatever gift or way you can
when it comes to what you do, and you're doing
just that. Let's talk about your connection with the National
Student Nurse Association and why you chose them for what

(16:08):
you're doing this month.

Speaker 8 (16:09):
Yeah, so, you know, May being National Nursing Months, we
wanted to give back in the best way that we
know how, and we specialize in custom window treatments, So
in support with the National Student Nurse Association, we are
going to be doing a giveaway to give back a
full set of custom blackout shades and working with the
winners to help design their primary bedroom and make it

(16:33):
into the sanctuary that they want to come home to
every day.

Speaker 4 (16:36):
Wow.

Speaker 7 (16:37):
Now I'm probably connecting some own dots in my head,
but just in case people listening didn't connect the dots
the blackout blinds. Because a lot of our nurses work
odd hours, is that right?

Speaker 8 (16:47):
Yes? Exactly. So you know nurses they often work, you know,
not just the standard hours. They're working in the evening.
They're trying to sleep during the day quite often, and
we want to make sure or that we can, you know,
design their room and make a sanctuary that's good for
them to come home to at any time. They can

(17:08):
sleep during the peak hours when the sun's out and
we can just block out all that noise and get
the lighting right, get the temperature right in the room
to where they just have a great cozy sanctuary and
they can get the RESTful sleep that they need to
go back the next day and you know, be an
everyday hero, which is what they are.

Speaker 3 (17:27):
You know.

Speaker 7 (17:28):
A few years ago, I readid my Bedroom because I
really wanted it to feel like a luxury hotel telling
deep stories. When I get into my room. I literally
just want to forget it all and relax. And it
sounds like that's what you're helping nurses achieve.

Speaker 4 (17:42):
I love that.

Speaker 7 (17:42):
So May is nurses much so we need to put
that in my calendar now. But tell us how do
people sign up for this giveaway?

Speaker 8 (17:48):
They have to be a nurse, right, yeah, So they
can be a nurse or they can nominate someone. So
if they come to our website, Skyline Windowcoverings dot com,
there is a section where they can and you know,
apply themselves or nominate someone. We're going to ask for
just a little bit of information about them or the
person they're nominating, and then they're going to be able

(18:08):
to upload photos of their room in their space to
get put into the to get put into the drawing,
and then we will We're going to accept us or
accept nominations through the month of May, so the last
day will be May thirty first for that, and then
we'll be announcing to the public the winners on June fifth,

(18:29):
and then the whole month of June we'll be working,
you know, connecting our design team with the winners, working
with them to get the design, aesthetic and the function
they're looking for. And then we'll be doing the installation
and taking care of the whole process for them.

Speaker 7 (18:44):
Oh my goodness, the words sanctuary. You just have done
it for me. I have to think about my friends.
I'm going to nominate in the nursing field. There are
so many Brady. It's one of the most crucial jobs.
I mean, think about it.

Speaker 5 (18:54):
I know Sarah's getting nominated from Brady, so that's all
I know.

Speaker 4 (18:56):
Of course.

Speaker 6 (18:57):
Yeah, the nurses are the hardest working. We think we are,
we think we were, we were what we do compared
to what these nurses do.

Speaker 7 (19:03):
Huh saving lives? Oh yeah, well, Chrissy, thank you so
much for sharing that. Give our listeners one more time
the website so they can nominate their nurses starting in May.

Speaker 8 (19:14):
Yeah, so they can go to our website, Skylane Windowcoverings
dot Com. Under the promotion section, there's going to be
a place for entries, and again they can nominate themselves
or they can nominate someone else with just a little
bit of information. And then you know, once we select
the winners, we're going to pair them with our designers
to you know, not just put the black oup days

(19:36):
in the room, but really help design the room and
make it a nice, treanquil space that they want to
come home to and they can shut out the world
and get a good night's sleep.

Speaker 7 (19:44):
Oh my goodness, Okay that sounds wonderful. Thank you so much, Chrissy.

Speaker 8 (19:48):
Thank you for having me.

Speaker 6 (19:49):
Awesome another awesome Whitney's Whitney's Women. But what is going
on in Whitney's world? That's a thing?

Speaker 5 (19:55):
Yeah, ready to Whitney.

Speaker 4 (19:56):
All the kind of like Wayne's world.

Speaker 5 (19:57):
Oh my goodness, you should open an amusement park. I
will come.

Speaker 4 (20:00):
You'll be my front seat rider.

Speaker 6 (20:01):
Yeah, I'll be screaming like a little goal. But anyways,
what's going on with you? Whitney Reynolds.

Speaker 7 (20:05):
So we have officially launched season nine of The Whitney
Reynolds Show, and I could not be more proud.

Speaker 4 (20:10):
We're calling it the Season of Hope and Renewal.

Speaker 7 (20:12):
These stories we have scouted for months and to actually
see them hit the millions I am.

Speaker 6 (20:18):
So.

Speaker 4 (20:19):
It's not a it's not for me type thing.

Speaker 7 (20:22):
It's more for our viewers to see the impact that
these stories will have and hopefully encourage our viewers to
start owning their stories and connecting the dots on how
they're hard moments and their good moments are punting them
for so much more to create change for people in
similar situations after them.

Speaker 4 (20:38):
So that's really our goal this season. We kicked things off.

Speaker 7 (20:41):
We also have a crossover coming up on WGN. It
will be coming up in June, so we are so
excited about that. June first, and then we did Whitney
Reynolds's Life, So we are really dedicated to our home market,
knowing that we are staple here in Chicago even though
we're a national show. So I would encourage everybody if
they want to get involved with what they're doing, if

(21:01):
they want more tools on way you can connect the
dots in your story, go to Whitney Reynolds dot com.

Speaker 6 (21:07):
There's a tunnel, then there's light, and then there's Whitney
Reynolds after that light.

Speaker 5 (21:10):
So thank you for sharing. We'll see you next time.

Speaker 4 (21:12):
Thank you.

Speaker 9 (21:13):
All Right, listen, I have the CEO of Pause Chicago
on my buddy, Susannah Wickham. There is a need for
kitty adoptions and fosters. I'm going to get right into
this so we could get your brand new kitty, Susanna.
How you doing, Hey.

Speaker 10 (21:25):
Melissa, great to talk to you.

Speaker 9 (21:27):
Oh, my friend, it's always good to talk to you.
Every time I talk to you, I want to go, oh.

Speaker 10 (21:33):
I know there's a lot of cuteness at Pause.

Speaker 1 (21:35):
For sure.

Speaker 9 (21:36):
Yes, you have the hardest and also the greatest, most
rewarding job of them all.

Speaker 3 (21:41):
So thank you.

Speaker 9 (21:41):
Okay, I wanted to have you on because I was
reading all these stories about Well, first of all, we
know that April may turns into a kittie season, So
what's going on with the cats?

Speaker 10 (21:50):
So every spring and summer, when the weather warms up,
the animals that live outside, and there are so many
of them, they start reproducing, and so it takes a
couple of months for it to really start to take holds.
So what we're seeing now is about three weeks ago
we started taking in a lot of mamas and kittens.
We have twenty eight moms right now with their kitten

(22:10):
litters and some orphan kittens as well, and they're mostly
in foster and once they're eight weeks old, they're old
enough to be spade and neutered, they will be vaccinated
and they will be available for adoption. So prepare for
an overload of cuteness at Pause Chicago.

Speaker 2 (22:29):
In another three weeks or so.

Speaker 9 (22:30):
Oh my gosh, you have twenty eight mamas with litters
right now at pau Chicago, twenty eight.

Speaker 10 (22:36):
And they're just starting to come in, so we know
this continues through the fall. Here's the great news the
Chicagoland community. They're the ones who help. We need fosters,
and it's a completely joyous thing to foster mamas and
kittens and cats too. We need fosters for cats and
dogs and everything, and then we need adopters this summer,
so if people have kids home from school, if they

(22:59):
have time on their hands, like, this is a really
good time to help animals.

Speaker 5 (23:03):
It is, it is.

Speaker 9 (23:04):
I don't know if I told you this, but the
other in November, I was walking my dog and I
think I told you this. This orange cat followed us home.
I tried to find the owners and everything. This cat
is now like the love of my life. Maximus Aurelius,
the ruler of Rome.

Speaker 5 (23:17):
Don't ask. I didn't name.

Speaker 2 (23:19):
It, but that's so cute.

Speaker 9 (23:21):
So I want to put it out there that a
cat that loves you could totally change your life. Even
if you're not certain that you're a cat person, they
will find a way to change you.

Speaker 2 (23:29):
They work their magic.

Speaker 10 (23:31):
And I think when you save a life the way
you did, we have a saying here rescuers never rest.
What a gratifying feeling to care for a helpless animal
and bring that animal into your home and have them
become a family memory. There's no greater gift.

Speaker 9 (23:45):
Oh, Susanna, And I think you know, I know it
sounds cliche, but honestly, these cats and dogs that you
bring in your life from Pause, they will actually save you.
That's what I realized. You're not saving them. I'm like,
that's the joy of all of this. So where do
we go to sign up and get involved?

Speaker 10 (23:59):
Sure, they can sign up to foster on our website,
Pause Chicago dot org and we train you, We give
you all the equipment you need, all the food, all
the medical is taken care of by our vets. So
it's a really great experience. And if you want to adopt,
every single day we have a need for adopters, and
again you can go to our website Pause Chicago dot org.
There are new animals arriving every day, and every morning

(24:21):
a fresh transport arrives from our medical center where they're
healed and rehabilitated, and so really you have to go
in person because you see a really wide selection of beautiful,
hopeful animals waiting for their families.

Speaker 9 (24:33):
I'm gonna cry hopeful. That is just all right, Susan.
I love you, love the team at pause, Chicago, Pause,
Chicago dot Org. Right, pause, Chicago dot Org.

Speaker 10 (24:41):
That's right.

Speaker 2 (24:41):
I love you back, Melissa.

Speaker 4 (24:42):
That's perfect.

Speaker 3 (24:43):
Thank you.

Speaker 9 (24:44):
Adoptor Kitty. Check them out, foster be a part of
the solution here in Chicago. We love our animals.

Speaker 5 (24:50):
I don't know why it makes me crying. I'll check
my thank you it's a horrible mine too.

Speaker 10 (24:55):
Thank you to you and your wonderful listeners for everything
they do for animals.

Speaker 1 (24:59):
Thank you, thank you so much, and thank you for
listening to the Weekly Show here on iHeartRadio. You can
catch up on this episode and any previous episode that
you may have missed. It's up on our free iHeartRadio app.
You can just simply search for the Weekly Show. If
you know somebody that deserves to be on the show,
or that we need to get in contact with who
are doing amazing things right here in the city and suburbs,

(25:19):
please contact me at Paulina at iHeartMedia dot Com and
I'm gonna try my absolute best to get them on
the weekly Show.

Speaker 2 (25:26):
Thank you so much. Stay safe, Chicago, and have a
great weekend.