Current Issue

School closings

As CPS prepares to close a record number of schools, the fate of students and communities is in question.

Chicago Teachers Union

July 25, 2012

Tuesday’s announcement that CPS and CTU had reached a partial teacher contract agreement set the stage for a quiet board meeting on Wednesday, where routine items were approved. Most of the action, subdued as it was, took place before the board meeting in two rallies and a press conference.

July 25, 2012

Both sides declared victory after the Chicago Teachers Union and the school board reached an agreement Tuesday that could help avert a strike.

July 24, 2012

CPS and CTU announced a partial agreement in ongoing teacher contract negotiations on Tuesday, with the union accepting the lengthening of the school day and the district saying it will hire 477 teachers, giving preference to teachers displaced over the past two years.

With these extra teachers and some scheduling changes, such as eliminating a morning prep time and putting lunch for teachers back into the middle of the day, the workday for elementary school teachers won’t be lengthened and will be only slightly longer for high school teachers.

July 23, 2012

State Sen. Kimberly Lightford, D-Maywood, who worked to get the Illinois education reform measure known as Senate Bill 7 passed last year, says it's working. "It's just not yielding the results that CPS and the mayor wanted. And, so it seems the Chicago Teachers Union out-maneuvered the bill, Tribune reporter Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah writes.

July 19, 2012

Now that CPS and the CTU have both rejected an outside fact-finder’s recommendations for a settlement in teacher contract negotiations, a resolution will have to come at the bargaining table. The report offers a glimpse into the issues at play--and sounds a clear warning of a looming strike. 

July 19, 2012

Chicago got closer to a possible teachers strike Wednesday afternoon as the Chicago Board of Education and the Chicago Teachers Union rejected the recommendations made by an outside mediator in the ongoing contract negotiations between the union and the financially strapped school district. (WBEZ)

July 18, 2012

Both the School Board and the Chicago Teachers Union rejected an arbitrator’s proposed contract settlement Wednesday, starting the 30-day countdown to a possible teacher strike.

CPS was first, saying that the fact-finder’s report, which called for raises next year of 15 percent, would force the district to lay off 4,000 teachers in the first year alone. The total cost of the raises over four years--the recommended length of a contract--would reach $330 million, the board estimates.

July 17, 2012

An arbitrator's recommendation that Chicago teachers get raises starting at nearly 15 percent gives union officials additional leverage and could embolden them to press harder on nonmonetary issues, said experts in education and labor Monday, the Tribune reported.

July 16, 2012

At a press briefing Monday, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis accused CPS of improperly leaking the results of a fact-finding report to the press.

Though Lewis disputed a published report that said the union had already decided to reject the proposed settlement, she left the door open for that—a move that would put the union a step closer to a possible strike—by saying that teachers are fighting for more than money.