Good afternoon CTU,

I hope you’re all doing well, and finding moments of peace and connection during a flood of unsettling news about policies that attack our communities.

I want to make sure to explicitly reiterate that CTU supports every student and staff member in Chelsea Public Schools, no matter immigration status, gender or sexual orientation, race, or other identity markers. The vision of the Chelsea Teachers Union is a diverse and unified school district, where our members organize alongside our community partners to build the union, schools, and community that Chelsea students deserve. If you have questions or concerns about how CTU is living up to this vision, please reach out to a building rep or CTU leadership.

There will continue to be new policies and directives, with uncertain impacts on our state and district. I will endeavor to share resources, events, and information in a way that is helpful, consistent, and not overwhelming. In general, my goal will not be to share news articles – there are lots of state and federal announcements each day. Our capacity is not best spent on passing along information, especially when it changes rapidly, but on helping CTU members best understand what we can do in the school and in our communities to help with real solutions. To that end, we’ve put together a document containing events and resources. For example, on Thursday night CPS is hosting a Know Your Rights event via Zoom at 6 pm, and AFT National is hosting a town hall on defending immigrant rights at 7 pm. Details about both are in the doc. To view the document please request access with your personal, non CPS email. Resources in the document include Know Your Rights information, links to resources from AFT MA and National, actions that AFT National has taken, helpful community organizations, and other information. We will endeavor to keep it as up to date as possible, so please reach out to building reps and / or CTU leadership if something needs to be changed or added, or you have any questions or concerns about information in this resource.

In solidarity,

Kathryn Anderson