Chicago native Chance the Rapper plans to do something inspiring during his second time hosting Saturday Night Live this weekend. He promised Chicago teachers he will give them a shout out. Chicago Public School teachers have been on strike since Oct. 17, resulting in seven days of canceled classes.
On Oct. 24, a teacher taking part in the strike spotted another striker wearing a Chance hat. “[Chance], CPS teachers reppin you this strike…rep us on SNL? #ChanceOnSNL,” the teacher wrote, alongside a photo.
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Hours before SNL begins on Saturday, Chance spotted the post. He retweeted the photo, adding, “I gotchu.”
On Friday, the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools ended the week without reaching any major breakthroughs in negotiations, reports NBC Chicago. During a press conference, CTU President Jesse Sharkey said they are now talking about issues that “matter the most,” but are the “hardest” to solve.
“There’s a degree of frustration that goes along with this part of the process. Not the first time I’ve been through it,” Sharkey told the media.
CTU and CPS have been disagreeing over several issues, like limited class sizes, adding more staff and the length of the new contract. CTU is hoping to get CPS to commit to smaller class sizs, as some are as big as 30 to 40 students in some schools. The union also wants each school to have a nurse, social worker and librarian.
“Now we’re really focused on how we get to a place where there’s some compromise on some of those big key issues that requires a little give and take,” CPS Chief Education Officer LaTanya McDade said. “The focus tomorrow [Saturday]… how do we get closure on some of the big priorities that have been constant areas of discussion.”
The talks are expected to continue through the weekend.
As for Chance, this is the second time he is hosting and performing on Saturday Night Live, following his 2017 appearance on the show. He also appeared as a performer on the show in 2015 and 2016. He earned an Emmy nomination for co-writing the song “Last Christmas” for a sketch in the 2016 Casey Affleck-hosted episode.
Chance, whose real name is Chancelor Jonathan Bennett, was born in Chciago and still lives there. Following three successful mixtapes, Chance released his debut studio album The Big Day in July. He will start a tour to support the album in January.
SNL airs Saturday at 11:30 p.m. ET on NBC.
Photo credit: Andrew Lipovsky/NBC/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images
