“Negotiations Between Chicago Public Schools and CTU Continue with Salary and Prep Time as Key Issues”

CHICAGO (WLS) — Chicago Public School students have now resumed classes after the winter break. During the break, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez was fired by the school board, and intense contract discussions between the Chicago Teachers Union and the district took place over the holidays.

“We intend to settle this, and our hope is we can settle it at the negotiating table,” CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said.

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Negotiations were ongoing all day on Monday, with Davis Gates once again pointing fingers at Martinez for impeding progress. Martinez will continue in his role for another six months. Last week, Martinez and his team refuted claims of stalling negotiations, asserting that they were actively working towards a resolution.

“We plead: Let’s get tentative agreements to the things we have already agreed upon. We went from 700 proposals to 100-plus,” Martinez said.

A major point of contention remains the financial aspect. CPS disclosed that they proposed a 16% salary increase for teachers over a four-year period, positioning them as among the highest-paid educators in the nation, second only to certain New York City teachers. In response, CTU presented a counteroffer of a 24% salary increase over the same four-year span. CPS cited financial constraints as the reason for not being able to exceed their initial offer.

“Another reason they haven’t come to an agreement on the annual raises because the union has asked for those raises to also come with a guarantee of no furloughs or layoffs,” Chalkbeat Chicago Bureau Chief Becky Vevea said.

Vevea said the other big sticking point is prep time. Teachers want an additional 30 minutes to prepare for class. It was taken away years ago under an agreement for a longer school day. Principals have concerns.

“How do we give back that prep time without eliminating time in the school day for students to be in the classroom?” Vevea said.

Additional hurdles include CTU’s demand to change a teachers evaluation system so it doesn’t penalize teachers in high poverty schools, and the union wants more control over curriculum and certain decisions principals and local school councils make.

When a deal is reached, it will fall in the hands of a new school board: 21 members will be sworn in on Jan. 15. Eleven were appointed by the mayor, and 10 were elected.