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 16, 2012

Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union this week are both expected to reject an arbitrator's fact-finding report, which recommends a double-digit salary hike that both sides agree could force teacher layoffs and larger class sizes, according to sources close to the negotiations, the Tribune reports.

June 27, 2012

Members of the Chicago Teachers Union will picket in front of the Board of Education this morning before Chicago School Board's monthly meets. CTU says the informational picketing is part of its "campaign to win a fair labor contract that will protect their wages and benefits and strengthen neighborhood schools."  The current contract between CTU and CPS expires June 30.

June 21, 2012

A dispute has broken out between Ald. Bob Fioretti (2nd) and CPS over what kind of public schooling to offer in the fast-growing South Loop, according to Crain's Chicago Business.

June 20, 2012

CPS has postponed a Monday night meeting that was to inform parents about the status of district negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union.

June 20, 2012

A new venture fund devoted to education reform efforts in Chicago's public schools is being proposed by a group of civic leaders under the Chicago Council on Global Affairs, but the Chicago Teachers Union sees the venture as "a slow road to privatization."

June 12, 2012

Chicago Teachers Union's allies in community organizations are on the offensive. The coalition, Communities Organized for Democracy in Education, which comprises several community groups, announced Saturday that it is launching a campaign for an elected school board that will include a city ballot initiative, a lawsuit, and legislative efforts in Springfield.

June 11, 2012

Expect the Chicago Teachers Union to announce later this morning that more than 75 percent of its members voted to authorize a strike, say several news sources including Catalyst, the Tribune and WBEZ.

June 10, 2012

Going into the strike vote last Wednesday, CTU president Karen Lewis said she was confident that more than enough of her members would vote to authorize. Such a move would not only logistically give union delegates the right to set the time and place of a strike, should they decide to, but it also would show the mayor and the CPS administration that the teachers still have some power.

June 08, 2012

The Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board Thursday denied a Chicago School Board request for an emergency order that would have forced the Chicago Teachers Union to preserve material from the vote and allow the board and the district access to it.