catalyst-chicago.org

One of the biggest wins for the union in negotiating the new teachers’ contract was getting CPS to agree that half of its new hires would be qualified, displaced teachers.

Still, it’s questionable how much the new provision will change what is happening on the ground in schools, given a host of factors.

For one, the provision had a stipulation that if CPS could not meet that quota by hiring back teachers, they could do so by taking the most-senior in the pool and making them substitutes.

Teacher evaluation took center stage in negotiations between CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union on Tuesday, with Mayor Rahm Emanuel saying he believed teachers could not legally strike over some of the issues at hand but backed away from the idea of an injunction to try and end the strike.

Emanuel also sought to back up the district's position on teacher recall rights, bringing together principals to speak at a press conference about the importance of maintaining hiring authority at their schools.

Though they were not required to, Chicago Teachers Union delegates voted to give their leaders discretion to issue a 10-day notice of intent to strike."That is how we do things," said CTU President Karen Lewis in explaining why she looked to delegates for the go ahead to give notice. "We are a democracy."

But more than anything, the move alerts CPS leadership and the public that a strike is a growing threat.

If the CTU wants to strike on September 4, the first day of school, notice would have to be given by Saturday.