CTU Contract

February 1, 2003

The stakes are high for both CTU President Deborah Lynch and Schools Chief Arne Duncan. Duncan’s predecessor, Paul Vallas, staked a large chunk of his claim to fame on having brought labor peace to a system that had endured decades of turmoil. Lynch was elected union president in 2001, largely by promising to be tougher on management than her predecessor, Thomas Reece, was. The current talks will be her only chance to bring in a contract victory before she stands for re-election in 2004.

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Salary reform a growing rumble Dan Weissmann Changing salary structures to promote better teaching has been a hot topic in districts around the country for the last several years. In 2001, a business-backed group in Chicago made it a bigger part of the local discussion. Chicago United, a business coalition that works on education issues, brought a leading expert and proponent, Allen Odden, to town several times that year and paved the way for a $50,000 grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation to Odden's center at the University of Wisconsin to devise new pay alternatives for Chicago and Illinois. ... > Read More
Who's who on negotiating teams Dan Weissmann While the leaders of the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) are new, their bargaining teams include some old negotiating hands. Here is a rundown. CPS team James Franczek, who heads up a law firm dedicated to labor, employment and education law, is lead negotiator for CPS. He represented CPS in contract talks in 1985, 1995 and 1999, and currently represents the City of Chicago in its negotiations with police officers and firefighters. A law partner, Charles Rose, also is on the CPS team. Others on the CPS team are: Chief of... > Read More
Negotiating a new CTU contract Catalyst "Expenses are up. Revenues are going to be down. It's going to be a bear." Attorney James Franczek, chief labor negotiator for the Chicago Board of Education The problem Irresistible force, meet immovable object: Chicago Teachers Union President Deborah Lynch has promised her members a better deal in their next contract—scheduled to begin July 1, 2003—than the one they got four years ago. Under current revenue estimates, however, the Chicago Public Schools will take in substantially less money next year than it did this year. Due to state tax caps... > Read More
Bad teachers not a contract issue Dan Weissmann An evergreen complaint against teachers unions is that they make it too difficult to get rid of bad teachers. But those familiar with the process say that the CTU contract isn't the obstacle. "The contract isn't all that unreasonable," says Pam Clarke, an attorney who worked eight years representing school boards that were trying to fire teachers. Currently she is associate director of Leadership for Quality Education, a business-backed school reform organization. Much of the process for dismissing tenured teachers comes out of state law, which sets a higher standard for... > Read More
CPS pay starts high, ends low Dan Weissmann Chicago's teacher salary schedule makes the city a great place to start teaching but a much less attractive place to stay. That is the picture painted by a Catalyst analysis of the number of teaching jobs in area school districts that pay more than Chicago does and the number of teaching jobs in districts that pay less. In the six-county metropolitan region, beginning elementary teachers have few better-paying alternatives to Chicago, and the city offers fairly competitive pay for beginning high school teachers. But for seasoned veterans, most teaching jobs in... > Read More
Class size reduction on back burner Dan Weissmann Reducing class size was a big plank in the platform Deborah Lynch ran on for president of the Chicago Teachers Union. Now though, the issue is on the back burner since funds are scarce, and the union's first priority is a pay raise. "It's a balancing act," says Lynch. "For every reduction in class size, you're balancing it against a 1 percent reduction in pay." Reducing class size limits by one student across the board would cost about $23.5 million, the same as a 1 percent pay hike, according to the School Board. However, the cost of additional reductions would... > Read More
Lots of will, few ways to provide staff raises Dan Weissmann Deborah Lynch, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, says that when contract talks start with the Board of Education she will demand a pay increase that is higher than the "paltry" raises the union got the last time around. "We've made that promise to our members," she says. But even the 3 percent raise that kicked off the last contract would be a steep challenge for the School Board, which is facing its worst budget year in a decade. Attorney James Franczek, the board's chief labor negotiator, sums up the situation succinctly: "Expenses are going up. Revenues are going to be... > Read More

En Español

Negociando un nuevo contrato para la Unión de Maestros de Chicago (CTU)

By: Catalyst

"Los costos suben. Los ingresos bajan. El mercado estará muy difícil."

Licenciado James Franczek, Abogado y principal negociador laboral para la Junta Escolar de Chicago

El problema

Una fuerza irresistible, enfrenta un objeto inmovible: Deborah Lynch, la Presidenta de la Unión de Maestros de Chicago (CTU, por sus siglas en inglés), ha prometido a sus miembros un mejor trato en el próximo contrato--programado para comenzar el 1 de julio del 2003-que el que consiguieron éstos hace cuatro años atrás.

"Los costos suben. Los ingresos bajan. El mercado estará muy difícil." Licenciado James Franczek, Abogado y principal negociador laboral para la Junta Escolar de Chicago El problema...

Sidebar

More in the works

By: Jody Temkin

Several groups of South Shore teachers are drafting proposals to open three more small schools next fall.

A pitch to create a Junior ROTC small school that was turned down previously is being recast this year as a School of Leadership. The plan calls for an integrated curriculum that combines political science, criminal justice and service learning with Junior ROTC training.

Several groups of South Shore teachers are drafting proposals to open three more small schools next fall. A pitch to create a Junior ROTC small school that was turned down previously is being recast...

Sidebar

New leaders on the rise

By: Faye A. Silas

New Leaders for New Schools, a 2-year-old national training program for aspiring principals, started smaller than LAUNCH but posted similar results in placing its first crop of Chicago graduates.

Among the seven graduates of its 2002 charter class in Chicago, four landed principal positions, two were hired as assistant principals and one became executive director of a new alternative certification program for teachers.

New Leaders for New Schools, a 2-year-old national training program for aspiring principals, started smaller than LAUNCH but posted similar results in placing its first crop of Chicago graduates....

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CTU Contract

Table of Contents

Salary reform a growing rumble

Who's who on negotiating teams

Negotiating a new CTU contract

Bad teachers not a contract issue

CPS pay starts high, ends low

Class size reduction on back burner

Lots of will, few ways to provide staff raises

Negociando un nuevo contrato para la Unión de Maestros de Chicago (CTU)

More in the works

New leaders on the rise

Departments

Catalyst Chicago