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CHICAGO - Stacy Davis Gates, the president of the Chicago Teachers Union, is on temporary medical leave as of this week, the organization of nearly 30,000 members announced.
The CTU said in a statement that the temporary medical leave was planned and anticipated.
What we know:
Vice President Jackson Potter will temporarily step into the leadership role during her absence, along with Vicki Kurzydlo, the CTU’s recording secretary, and Diane Castro, its financial secretary, according to the union.
The union did not give details about why Davis Gates is going on medical leave.
"We’re grateful for her leadership and for demonstrating that as we pour ourselves into the work, we also have to care for ourselves to be able to keep going," the CTU said in its member bulletin on Tuesday.
The organization added, "Stacy has built a leaderful union from the largest bargaining team in our history to the expansion of organizing and other departments. We know the assignment of fighting for our students, defending our members, and demanding full funding for our schools in order to Trump-proof our state. We wish her a swift recovery and know the best way we can give her the space to rest is by being clear on the assignment and moving it forward during her leave."
Davis Gates has served as president of the CTU since 2022 and was re-elected to her post last year despite a challenge.
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Under her leadership, the union has been politically active in its support for Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and for higher pay and more benefits for teachers.
She also serves as the president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, which boasts more than 100,000 members from across the state.
In recent months, the CTU under Davis Gates clashed with leadership at Chicago Public Schools and engendered controversy for political activity like praising Assata Shakur, an activist who was convicted of killing a state trooper, when she died.
The CTU has also become a target for the Trump administration and Congressional Republicans.
Late last year, the House Committee on Education and Workforce accused the CTU of failing to be transparent with its members about financial records and asked for the union's audited financial reports over five years. Last month, the CTU leadership said they received a notice from the Department of Labor that it was launching an audit of the organization.
The CTU leadership said the federal scrutiny came about because of politics, not actual financial impropriety.
"We’re being investigated because we make improving the education, communities, and lives of our Black, Latine, and largely low-income student body our first order of business," the union said last month.
The CTU said it provided the requested financial records to lawmakers and to its own members.