Chicago Public Schools marks May Day after tense debate over canceling school

“Sign up for Chalkbeat Chicago’s free daily newsletter to keep up with the latest news on Chicago Public Schools. For all the intense debate and controversy over May Day in Chicago Public Schools this year, the start of the school day Friday at Burbank Elementary was low on drama. Eight teachers and five staff members called in sick overnight — a fairly typical number for the 95-employee Northwest Side school, which was able to quickly line up substitutes for all but two elective classes. Meanwhile, students in grades 6 through 8 spent part of the morning writing letters to elected officials on topics such as homelessness, gun laws, and immigration in a nod to a district push to encourage student civic engagement. Districtwide, CPS officials said about 13% of its teachers were absent amid a national “day of no school, no work, no shopping.” Most requested the day in advance as the district had asked. CPS, which employs about 43,000 people, enlisted more than 2,600 substitute teachers and about 940 support staff subs to fill in for absent employees. Central office staff deployed to help out at 76 schools. The district approved about 40 May Day field trips for 2,200 of the district’s 315,000 students, including some to a Union Park pro-labor, anti-Trump rally, where protestors also called for more school funding. The Chicago Teachers Union, one of the protest’s organizers, had demanded that the district close schools for May Day. After some tense back-and-forth, the district and the union agreed to make Friday a day of civic engagement for students. Schools stayed open for a full day of instruction. But the district committed to back lessons on labor and civics and to provide transportation so students at up to 100 schools could participate in the downtown rally and other activities. Some parents and advocates voiced dismay that the cash-strapped district chose to chip in for student participation in a political rally and questioned whether classroom May Day lessons would verge on partisan indoctrination. But the district had stressed that principals would only allow students with signed parent permission forms to attend field trips and would only approve instructional materials that “provide diverse perspectives rather than advance any particular viewpoint.” At Burbank Elementary, science teacher Caroline Hallendorff pitched reviving a project she had premiered with her students in 2017, when they wrote to electeds about the first Trump administration’s decision to pull out of the Paris Climate Accords. The students got responses from President Donald Trump and Democratic Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin, making the experience a memorable lesson in civics. Other educators at the school and Burbank Principal Edward Collins rallied around the idea. This time, middle grade students could pick any topic for their letters, which they handwrote in class to “make it very clear it’s not some AI thing,” as Hallendorff put it. Science teachers Caroline Hallendorff speaks on Friday, May 1, 2026, with students in her science class at Chicago's Burbank Elementary who wrote letters to elected officials for a special May Day project. Student Daniel Gutierrez, for example, wrote to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson urging him to open more homeless shelters after seeing more homeless people on drives across the neighborhood with his family. In research he did before putting pen to paper, Gutierrez found out life expectancy can be up to 30 years lower for people who experience homelessness. “This lesson made me really focus on the problems of today that are important to me,” Gutierrez said. The experience of navigating the day and the run-up to it varied across the district. Some principals told Chalkbeat Burbank Elementary student Oscar Jaramillo, front, and Daniel Gutierrez. worked on letters to elected leaders as part of a schoolwide project to spur more civic engagement by students on May Day 2026. Oscar wrote to Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin urging him to push for more gun restrictions and Daniel wrote to Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson with a request to open more homeless shelters. Friday that they had few absences and a largely normal school day. One principal said roughly half of teachers on that school leader’s campus took the day off, including some calling out overnight on Friday. The district had directed principals to reject day-off requests if they meant schools would be too short-staffed to function normally Friday. At one West Side school, a student “Peacewalk” in the neighborhood was on, then off after an initial district rejection of the plan, then on again. Ultimately, the district did not reject any field trips after reviewing transportation, safety, and chaperone plans. At Burbank, Collins said no teachers or staff requested the day off in advance though some called out overnight. Thanks to a stable of regular substitutes — many of them retired Burbank teachers — the school was able to fill most last-minute absences. However, two “special” classes — art, music, and physical education — would have to be made up next week. Student attendance was down to 85% Friday from about 92% on average, but Collins was not sure to what extent May Day affected that number. No one approached Collins with a request to plan a field trip, and he heard from relatively few parents about the day. All of them just wanted to verify that school would happen Friday. The district said high school attendance was slightly down on Friday while elementary and middle grade attendance remained stable. About 72% of high school students attended compared to 75% last Friday. Hallendorff said she would mail all the letters students wrote Friday. “I love the fact that students had this opportunity to think about what’s important to them,” she said, “and to express those feelings.” Mila Koumpilova is Chalkbeat Chicago’s senior reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Mila at mkoumpilova@chalkbeat.org .

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