Tentative Agreement And More

At last, the Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Teachers Union have landed a tentative agreement. This afternoon, the union’s House of Delegates will meet to decide whether to send the tentative agreement to the full membership for ratification. If the delegates vote yes, the full membership will vote on the agreement sometime in the next couple of weeks. Once the union ratifies the agreement, it goes to the Board of Education for their approval. The final step will be for the board to ratify a budget amendment to cover the first year of contract expenses (this school year). 

The budget amendment, which requires a two-thirds majority, or 14 votes, has caused dissension among board members. At its March meeting, President Sean Harden tabled the proposed amendment, which would also have opened the door to borrowing to pay for a $175 million pension reimbursement to the city. A few days later, seven board members signed a letter to Harden affirming their opposition to making that pension payment. Because Harden only votes to break ties, the seven-member group is sufficient to stop the board from making the payment. In the letter, the group pledged to support a budget amendment that simply allots $139 million in additional TIF revenue to fund labor contracts. They also agreed to 

partner with the city to lobby Springfield to get the board taxing authority so it can raise funds to make future pension payments, which would help separate city and school district finances.

Highlights of the Tentative Deal

The union has published a four-page brief of highlights from the tentative agreement. It  indicates which provisions were finalized in the last month of negotiations. In an email to families yesterday, CEO Pedro Martinez shared the district’s highlights.  Chalkbeat and WBEZ have good reporting on what’s in the deal. I’ll note just a few points here.

Smaller Class Sizes: In 2021, the state legislature restored CTU’s full bargaining rights, which were limited under the 1995 law that tightened mayoral control over Chicago’s public schools. This tentative deal is the first to be bargained under the restored rules, which allow the union to bargain over class sizes.

Pre-K class sizes are capped at 20 and all classes will receive at least one teacher assistant. Kindergarten class sizes will now max at 25 instead of 28. Classes of 23 students or more will automatically receive a teacher assistant. For grades 4-8, maximum class size maxes at 30 instead of 31, and classes of more than 28 will receive a teacher assistant. The pool of funds dedicated to class size relief increased by $5 million, to $40 million.

More Recess, Arts and Sports. To resolve the most intractable issue holding up a contract deal, elementary school teachers will receive 10 additional minutes of daily prep time, coupled with a shift to a larger share of teacher-directed time in professional development. The union had asked for 30 minutes of prep time before starting classes to restore prep time lost when former mayor Rahm Emanuel lengthened the school day. Many students will gain 10 additional minutes of recess in schools that need to add recess time to comply with state law. Others will have a few extra minutes in specialty classes like art, music or gym.

CPS agreed to create a cadre of 24 arts teachers who can supplement arts classes  in schools with zero or one arts offering. The district also doubled its pool of funds to support sports in schools with large numbers of low-income students, from $5 million to $10 million. The money pays for uniforms, equipment and buses to games for teams at schools with little or no parent fundraising. Coaching stipends will also increase.

Increased staffing in key roles. The new contract requires a social worker and a nurse at every school every day, a stricter requirement than the previous contract. CPS has also agreed to hire additional case managers to keep caseloads down to 75 students per case manager, increase the numbers of teachers of English learners and bilingual teachers, and create 90 new school librarian positions, though they may be filled by teachers already on staff.

Teacher evaluation, veteran teacher pay. Two other tough sticking points in negotiations were teacher evaluation and pay increases for veteran teachers. CPS gave ground on these, allowing highly-rated teachers to be evaluated just once every three years and adding new “steps” to the salary schedule for teachers with more than 14 years of experience. 

The tentative contract agreement is projected to cost $1.5 billion over four years. Although this is a much leaner agreement than the union’s initial proposals, how the full contract will be paid for remains unclear. The school district already faces a massive budget shortfall for next year–more than half a billion dollars–before the new contract costs are factored in. Plus, negotiations with the principals’ union have yet to reach a deal, which will cost more money.

Was It Worth It?

Last spring, contract negotiations began with a sense of cooperation and optimism, not least because CTU had been Mayor Brandon Johnson’s largest campaign donor. In a first, some bargaining talks were made public. But by July, Johnson and CPS CEO Martinez were at odds about whether the school district should take on short-term debt to pay for a new contract. When Martinez proposed an FY 2025 budget that made no provision to pay for the teacher contract, CTU Vice President Jackson Potter accused him of “shirking his responsibility to create great schools.”

Mayor Johnson began pressuring his own appointed school board to fire Martinez and approve a short-term loan. In September, he asked for Martinez’s resignation, but Martinez refused to resign.  In October, the board resigned en masse and Johnson appointed six new board members. In December, the newly appointed board fired Martinez without cause, which allowed him to stay on the job for six more months. Shortly afterwards, President Sean Harden and two other board members attended negotiations without permission from Martinez. He took the board to court and won a temporary restraining order barring them from “obstructing” his duties and preventing them from attending contract talks without his permission.

Matters came to a head again on March 20, when Harden withdrew the budget amendment and intergovernmental agreement that would have made it possible for the board to borrow and make the pension reimbursement. 

Though Johnson has faced other political problems, his troubles with the schools have cost him a lot politically In late February, Johnson’s approval rating stood at 6.6%.

At yesterday’s weekly media availability, Johnson was asked directly, “Was it all worth it for you?” (See 56:30 in the livestream.)  He pointed to class size reductions, increases in veteran teacher pay, increased access to arts and sports, and the agreement to add 50 more Sustainable Community Schools by 2028 as evidence it was worth it. “With all the challenges we had to get to this point, it clearly wasn’t about the raises, right? Because that part stayed the same, but all the other things I just listed off, those things were not agreed upon.” 

Next: Budget, Black Students, and Super Search

While the mayor, union leaders, and the CPS CEO take a victory lap and breathe a sigh of relief, folks on the ground are looking ahead to budget season and the superintendent search. Back in 2022, CEO Martinez was able to release school budgets for the following year in mid-March. Not this year. LSC members and principals are waiting to see what happens to federal funds for low-income students and students with disabilities, which make up 16% of the CPS budget. 

On Monday night, the school district held a community roundtable on its Black Student Success Plan at Michele Clark Magnet High School in Austin. About 35 people attended, including Clark Principal Charles Anderson and a group of students. Attendees pressed Eugene Robinson, the district’s director of Black student success, to explain how the plan will survive a change of leadership. He cited both its inclusion in the CPS five-year strategic plan and the provision in state law for a Chicago Board of Education committee on Black student achievement (which has yet to be created). Former school board member Dwayne Truss was among the participants. He advocated for more trades programs on the West side. I’ll be following up with folks who attended the meeting to hear more about what they would like to see happen.

Tonight is the last of the scheduled roundtables. It will be held at Eugene Field Elementary School, 7019 N. Ashland Ave., from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. You can register to attend here.