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CTU and CPS reach tentative agreement on teacher contract

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Illinois

The Chicago Teachers Union announced a tentative contract agreement with the school board minutes before a midnight strike deadline, meaning classrooms in the city will be open Tuesday.

The two sides narrowly averted what would have been the second strike of Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s tenure after nearly 12 hours of talks Monday. The four year deal agreed to by union leaders still needs to be ratified by the CTU’s House of Delegates and voted on by full membership. […]

Lewis said the contract includes a commitment from the school board on kindergarten through second grade class sizes and on teacher layoffs and recalls. The settlement also deals with the teacher pension pickup, long a hangup in contract talks, Lewis said.

Under the proposed contract, CTU members hired before Dec. 31, 2016, will keep the pension pickup. “The new hires will not have it, but they will get at some point a salary adjustment,” Lewis said. “So it’s about compensation.”

* Sun-Times…

It’s not yet clear how the Board of Education will pay for the new deal, or how much of the tax-increment financing money the union has sought as a solution for the cash-strapped district could be tapped.

According to the four-year agreement published early Tuesday morning, teachers will keep in years two, three and four the raises they get for added experience and education known as steps and lanes, raises the Board had suspended during negotiations. Cost of living raises of 2 percent and then 2.5 percent also are forthcoming in the third and fourth years of the deal, Lewis said. Teachers are currently in year two of the agreement that would replace the contract that expired in June 2015. […]

The Board also committed in writing to sending more help to crowded kindergarten to second-grade classrooms during the second semester, and has earmarked $7 million each year of the deal to staff those same grades. And it agreed to find a solution in tandem with the CTU to somehow free counselors and special ed teachers from case management duties starting in the 2017-18 school year.

Earlier district proposals to reopen the contract if CPS couldn’t entice 1,500 teachers and several hundred more aides to retire early have been eliminated, and CPS also agreed to form an advisory committee of two CTU members, two Board members and CPS’ finance chief to discuss budget issues.

At the press conference last night, a pricetag of $200 million for additional costs was mentioned. The tentative agreement is here.

posted by Rich Miller
Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 2:25 am

Comments

How much of this deal is different from what CTU leadership recommended to its rank and file in the spring, which got rejected?

Comment by Ravenswood Right Winger Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 7:12 am
“CPS also agreed to form an advisory committee of two CTU members, two Board members and CPS’ finance chief to discuss budget issues.”

As I see it, there is one notable party that is missing from this discussion, the taxpayers.

Comment by Small town taxpayer Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 7:31 am
Wow, this is terrible for the taxpayers of Chicago.

Comment by Ron Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 7:55 am
Ravenswood, CPS completely caved to the outrageous demands of CTU. Get ready for more massive RE tax increases.

Comment by Ron Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 7:56 am
==As I see it, there is one notable party that is missing from this discussion, the taxpayers.==

Not paying taxes sounds like a spectacular perk for members of the advisory board that I’m not familiar with. When did they first become eligible for this benefit?

Comment by AC Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 8:21 am
Well, the teachers got what they wanted. Current teachers keep the pension pick up. Just remember folks that this was never “about the kids”…

Comment by Former IL Resident Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 8:33 am
Taking time to collect my thoughts and formulate (occasionally coherent) comments just doesn’t seem worth it with the “comment roulette” that seems to be occurring lately. There’s no way to know if it’s based on a comment I made, the IP address I’ve posted from, or something else. Maybe I’ll feel differently another time, but for today at least, I don’t feel like trying. It’s still fun to read the blog, there are many insightful comments, but I can’t help but wonder what perspectives I’m missing because others have similar issues.

Comment by AC Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 8:49 am
Thank loving God there will not be a strike today. I know it’s tentative but hopefully it will hold. I am so thankful for the power of collective bargaining and the solidarity of the teachers.

Comment by Honeybear Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 9:12 am
Hey 1.4%, see what happens when contract negotiations are held between 2 willing parties.

Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 9:21 am
Interesting that CPS struck the “pension pick-up will not constitute a continuing element of compensation or benefit beyond fiscal year…” language from the contract. CPS basically bargained away one of the key negotiating points in every contract going forward. That is extremely short-sighted.

Comment by City Zen Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 9:39 am
AC - Totally agree. Many comments I’ve posted don’t show up. Many do. I have no idea why this happens — but it is what it is.

I assume there’s some filter looking for certain words, certain IP addresses, and certain user names. If it finds any of the above, the comment is held for moderation.

Comment by Bobby Catalpa Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 9:43 am
It looks like new hires no longer get the pension pick-up but get a phased in 7% salary increase over the next year. So at least both sides recognized future employees were getting screwed. Many times have unions bargained away the benefits of future members.

CTU has always argued that removing the 7% pension pick-up was a pay cut. But if you removed it for folks who had not been hired yet, there was no pay to cut. So just a strange move for a cash-strapped organization that seems to think there’s a miracle waiting around the corner.

Comment by City Zen Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 9:48 am
Gee, let me guess - the union won and the taxpayers lost? Shocking I tell you, shocking!

Comment by BigDoggie Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 10:14 am
This is a win for City Hall and CTU. Don’t think it will cost as much money as people think either, especially this year.

Comment by From the 'Dale to HP Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 10:40 am
re: comment roulette - I’ve noticed sometimes if I leave a comment to attend to work and then come back to it, it doesn’t post - from what I saw on another site, it may be that the website invisibly “refreshes” behind the scenes so that you think you are connected and hitting the “say it” button posts the comment, but it doesn’t.

Comment by lake county democrat Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 11:02 am
Thankfully, some of my stupidest, unfair, non sequitur, or ad hominem comments don’t make the post.

Must be divine intervention.

Comment by walker Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 11:35 am
It appears that the CTU members get the best part of the bargaining. The taxpayers will be in for a rude shock when they understand the cost of the new contract. Continued pension pickup by CPS, more staff in the lower grades, and more staff for case management all appear to be costly for a school system that has no money and already large unfunded pension obligations.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 12:48 pm
“Must be divine intervention.”

No, just Richard Miller.

Comment by Huh? Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 12:59 pm
I have to assume that when people say teachers should sacrifice in their own lives and for their own personal children, that they should dedicate their lives and services for free. Like Mother Theresa? Only way this could work is if we never allowed teachers to marry or procreate and housed them in bunkers (housing the taxpayers could afford).

Short of that, they have to eat, live and support their own families just like those who don’t teach.

For those who think their own personal pennies are ending up in teacher pockets, here’s the horrible news. Your personal pennies are finding their way into your doctor’s extravaganat lifestyle, your grocers, your bankers, your financial advisor’s………get the picture? Apparently the concept of educated minds and those who make that happen is just junk, not worthy of any cost.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 5:26 pm
= a cash-strapped organization that seems to think there’s a miracle waiting around the corner.=

It will be interesting to find out the how much of the tax-increment financing money the union has sought as a solution for the cash-strapped district could be tapped. This could be the miracle that the taxpayers have been waiting for.

Comment by Anonymous Tuesday, Oct 11, 16 @ 8:00 pm