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Member action spurs upgrades at Washington High School, inspires us to keep fighting – Chicago Teachers Union

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Member action spurs upgrades at Washington High School, inspires us to keep fighting – Chicago Teachers Union


Members at Washington High School rally during their Sept. 30 Walk In. Donald Davis, center with glasses, and his George Washington colleagues during their Sept. 30 walk in.

When staff and students returned to George Washington High School this fall, several surprises awaited them. Over the summer, CPS had installed air conditioning window units in both the student cafeteria and the counselor offices and a permeable brick walkway in one of the internal courtyards.

These upgrades will immediately lead to a better student experience at school this year. They are a direct result of the sustained action of CTU members, parents and community residents who have been raising their voices, highlighting the deficiencies and dangerous conditions and organizing to secure a new, sustainable green school building for the Southeast Side’s only neighborhood high school. 

I have worked at Washington High for the past 10 years and I also live in the neighborhood. While there are many things our school is proud of  — caring teachers and staff, strong student leadership, and championship athletic programs —  the physical condition of our building is unfortunately not one. Still, the improvements we saw this year are welcome and demonstrate our ability to win when we work in collaboration with our families and community. 

With over 1,520 students, even CPS acknowledges we are severely overcrowded, at 111% capacity. We lack sufficient classroom space, teacher planning rooms, and parking spots for our staff. The non-air conditioned auditorium is used for health and driver’s ed classes. And, in the winter months, educators and staff must open windows and run air conditioners because our aging heating system can’t properly regulate the temperature. 

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Our four mobile classrooms, located behind our main building, are more than 25 years old with holes in the ceiling and floors. We don’t have a regulation turf field for soccer and football games and the pool is broken more days than it works. In 2022, we made news when part of our ceiling collapsed, injuring a staff member. 

Washington’s mighty CTU members, along with parents and community residents, have been advocating for a new building for years and this year Mayor Brandon Johnson and CEO Martinez visited the school. It was the first time any mayor had bothered with us. 

When the mayor and Martinez visited George Washington, they got a small taste of the unbearable conditions our students and staff endure on a regular basis. The auditorium, gyms, and hallways lack air conditioning, so when our VIP visitors got to the auditorium they found a PE teacher drenched in sweat and students missing desks. 

Washington High School sits in the middle of one of the city’s most toxic communities. Industrial pollutants from the long-shuttered steel mills still impact its air, soil, and water quality. The neighborhood posts higher asthma rates and cancer diagnoses than other areas of the city. And more than 1,600 diesel trucks drive on nearby streets during our school hours every weekday. 

This is why CPS must prioritize schools located in Black and Brown environmental justice communities like ours for facilities improvements to ensure our students have healthy safe environments both at school and at home.

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Our experience at Washington has shown that CPS is most responsive when CTU members take collective action as a school community. During the last school year, we organized several actions aimed at pressuring CPS to collaborate with us on a plan for a new, green school building.

We organized a walk-in and press conference during the heatwave in the fall of 2023. CTU president Stacy Davis Gates and CPS Board President Jianan Shi joined us and toured the building. We had teachers speak at CPS Board meetings in July and August of 2023 and a parent speaker in April of 2024. We highlighted issues of overcrowding, facilities problems and lack of athletic spaces in our comments, and we urged board members to partner with us in securing funding for green renovations and new school buildings.

For Earth Day this past April, CTU members at Washington taught lessons about environmental justice, wearing green on Friday, and posting photos on social media before school. We connected the issue of toxic lead, asbestos, and mold in school buildings with systemic environmental racism in Chicago.

Members at George Washington High School pose for a photo before their walk in Sept. 30.

Members at George Washington High School pose for a photo before their walk in Sept. 30. Donald Davis, center with glasses, and his colleagues before their Sept. 30 walk in for full funding.

Finally, Washington staff attended regional meetings to engage in CPS’s facilities master plan and capital budget. While this was a positive experience overall, we left feeling that CPS was asking us to limit our expectations for what’s possible.

Washington teachers have joined CTU’s Climate Justice Committee and helped write contract proposals urging CPS to create safe, healthy, and climate resilient school buildings. And, in June, many of us attended our first-ever public bargaining session with CPS focused on green and healthy schools.

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When we use the term “green schools,” we refer to school buildings that are free from toxins like lead and asbestos, that reduce their carbon footprint and are resilient to future climate challenges. However, just as important, “green schools” also must offer climate justice curriculum and job training to equip our students with skills to enter the green economy after graduation.

That may sound like a tall order, but our union has shown time and again that when we fight and work in collaboration with our school communities, we can win. CTU members at Washington understand this is a long-term fight and will not back down until our students have the healthy, safe, green school they deserve.



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Washington

Brothers shot Park Police officer who arrested one of them the day before, documents say

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Brothers shot Park Police officer who arrested one of them the day before, documents say


Charging documents reveal the U.S. Park Police officer who was shot Monday in Southeast D.C. had arrested one of the suspects the day before and was following that suspect at the time.

The suspects are brothers, 22-year-old Asheile Foster and 21-year-old Darren Foster, of Southeast. They appeared in federal court Wednesday afternoon.

Court documents state the Park Police officer who was shot had arrested Asheile Foster on Sunday on suspicion of dealing drugs. The officer said he followed Foster after he was released from jail on Monday and came to Park Police headquarters to get his personal belongings.

According to prosecutors, Foster told police he knew he was being followed by a white Tesla, and he confronted the officer on Queens Stroll Place SE, jumping out in front of the Tesla before the officer swerved around him.

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Then, dozens of gunshots went off, the officer told police. He said in charging documents he was shot in the shoulder as he kept driving several blocks to the intersection of Benning Road and Southern Avenue SE, where police found him. A helicopter then took him to a hospital. According to charging documents, the officer was treated and released the same night as the shooting.

A U.S. Park Police officer who was shot in Southeast D.C. on Monday is recovering from what authorities say was likely a targeted attack. Multiple law enforcement sources tell News4’s Mark Segraves that when the officer was shot, he was investigating a shooting that occurred in Anacostia Park on Friday.

Photos in the charging documents show the brothers firing at the officer’s Tesla, according to prosecutors.

The shooting drew a massive police presence to the Southeast neighborhood near the D.C-Maryland border Monday night.

Shell casings littered the middle of the street. Police said they recovered two weapons: a Glock 9 with an extended magazine and an AR-15.

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Prosecutors said that when the officer was shot, he was investigating a shooting that occurred in Anacostia Park on Friday. No one was injured in that shooting.

Darren Foster was located and stopped shortly after the shooting, D.C. police said. Asheile Foster was found on Tuesday.

The brothers were charged with assault on a federal officer, assault with intent to kill and weapons charges. They could face up to 60 years in prison if they’re convicted.



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Washington passes new AI laws to crack down on misinformation, protect minors

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Washington passes new AI laws to crack down on misinformation, protect minors


Washington just became the latest state to regulate artificial intelligence.

Under a pair of bills signed by Gov. Bob Ferguson Tuesday, companies like OpenAI and Anthropic will have to include new disclosures in their popular chatbots for Washington users.

Ferguson asked legislators to craft House Bill 1170 to crack down on AI-generated misinformation. When content is substantially modified using generative AI, that information will now have to be traceable using watermarks or metadata. The new law applies to large AI companies more than 1 million monthly subscribers.

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“ I’m confident I’m not the only Washingtonian who often sees something on my phone and wondering to myself, ‘Is that AI or is it real?’ And I feel like I’m a reasonably discerning person,” Ferguson said during the bill signing. “It is virtually impossible these days.”

RELATED: WA Gov. Bob Ferguson calls for regulations on AI chatbot companions

House Bill 2225 establishes new guard rails for AI chatbots that act like friends or companions. It applies to services like ChatGPT and Claude, but excludes more narrowly tailored chatbots, like the customer service windows that pop up when visiting a corporate website.

Chatbots that fit the bill will have to disclose to users that they are not human at the start of every conversation, and every three hours in an ongoing chat. The tools will also be barred from pretending to be human in conversation with users.

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The rules go further if the user is a minor. Companies that operate chatbots will have to disclose that the tools are not human every hour, rather than every three hours, if the user is under 18. The bill forbids AI companions from having sexually explicit conversations with underage users. It also bans “manipulative engagement techniques.” For example, a chatbot is not allowed to guilt or pressure a minor into staying in a conversation or keeping information from parents.

“AI has incredible potential to transform society,” Ferguson said. “At the same time, of course, there are risks that we must mitigate as a state, especially to young people. So I speak partly as a governor, but also as the father of teenage twins who grapple with this as a lot of parents do every single day.”

Under the law, AI chatbots will not be allowed to encourage or provide information on suicide or self-harm, including eating disorders. The companies behind these tools will be required to come up with a protocol for flagging conversations that reference self-harm and connecting users with mental health services.

The regulations come in the wake of several high-profile instances of teenage suicide following prolonged interactions with AI companions that showed warning signs. Many more AI users of all ages have reported mental health issues and psychosis after heavy use of the technology.

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Washington faces Utah, aims to stop 16-game skid

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Washington faces Utah, aims to stop 16-game skid


Washington Wizards (16-55, 14th in the Eastern Conference) vs. Utah Jazz (21-51, 14th in the Western Conference)

Salt Lake City; Wednesday, 9 p.m. EDT

BOTTOM LINE: Washington heads into the matchup with Utah after losing 16 in a row.

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The Jazz have gone 13-24 in home games. Utah ranks second in the Western Conference with 16.6 fast break points per game led by Lauri Markkanen averaging 3.3.

The Wizards are 5-29 in road games. Washington is 9-10 when it has fewer turnovers than its opponents and averages 15.3 turnovers per game.

The Jazz score 117.4 points per game, 6.7 fewer points than the 124.1 the Wizards give up. The Wizards’ 46.1% shooting percentage from the field this season is 2.9 percentage points lower than the Jazz have allowed to their opponents (49.0%).

The teams square off for the second time this season. The Jazz won the last meeting 122-112 on March 6, with Ace Bailey scoring 32 points in the victory.

TOP PERFORMERS: Kyle Filipowski is averaging 10.5 points and 6.9 rebounds for the Jazz. Brice Sensabaugh is averaging 19.9 points over the last 10 games.

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Alex Sarr is averaging 16.5 points, 7.4 rebounds and two blocks for the Wizards. Will Riley is averaging 14.4 points over the past 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Jazz: 3-7, averaging 116.4 points, 43.3 rebounds, 27.7 assists, 9.9 steals and 4.4 blocks per game while shooting 45.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 122.7 points per game.

Wizards: 0-10, averaging 114.3 points, 37.4 rebounds, 24.5 assists, 6.9 steals and 4.5 blocks per game while shooting 47.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 130.6 points.

INJURIES: Jazz: Lauri Markkanen: out (hip), Isaiah Collier: out (hamstring), Keyonte George: out (leg), Cody Williams: out (shoulder), Walker Kessler: out for season (shoulder), Jusuf Nurkic: out for season (nose), Jaren Jackson Jr.: out for season (knee).

Wizards: Anthony Davis: out (finger), Tristan Vukcevic: day to day (back), Cam Whitmore: out for season (shoulder), Alex Sarr: day to day (toe), Tre Johnson: day to day (foot), Kyshawn George: out (elbow), D’Angelo Russell: out (not injury related), Trae Young: out (quad).

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.



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