Chicago Teachers Strike Extends as Sides Fail to Reach Deal
Chicago Teachers Strike Extends as Sides Fail to Reach Deal
(Bloomberg) -- Chicago teachers extended their strike into an eighth school day on Monday, as district officials and union representatives failed to reach an agreement to end the walkout that’s left more than 350,000 students out of class in the nation’s third-largest school system.
Classroom sizes and staffing are two of the last major items the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools negotiators are still working through. The union said on Sunday the difference between the two sides is $38 million a year, but district officials have put the figure higher at about $100 million. Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who took office in May, has expressed frustration that the negotiations aren’t moving faster. CPS Chief Executive Officer Janice Jackson took part in talks for the first time over the weekend.
“We are a district that just a few years ago was on the brink of insolvency,” Jackson said during a press conference on Sunday.
The junk-rated school system is struggling with climbing pension costs, years of declining enrollment and was recently saved from insolvency thanks to an influx of state aid. Illinois increased support to schools under legislation enacted in 2017, which generated $444 million in additional revenue for the city’s schools last year.
The teachers’ contract expired in June, and the union has rejected the city’s offer of a 16% raise over five years and has demanded more staffing, caps on class sizes, a shorter contract and more resources for social issues such as affordable housing. Their walkout has gotten national attention with shows of support from Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Joe Biden and a shout-out from Chance the Rapper, Chicago’s Grammy award-winning musician, who wore a red CTU top as he hosted Saturday Night Live this weekend.
“It’s disappointing that talks have stalled,” said Dora Lee, director of research for Belle Haven Investments, which holds Chicago school bonds among $10 billion of municipal debt. “It remains important for the two sides to come to an agreement that fits within the confines of the budget rather than agree to something that the district can’t afford.”
The district’s pool of funds is limited, and CPS must take financially responsible actions, according to Lightfoot. The city and district’s budgets are separate, but the mayor appoints the school board and the two institutions share a tax base.
“‘Great’ CPS offer would help only one-third of schools address classroom size, while CPS staffing proposal continues to fall far short for case managers, librarians, more,” according to an emailed statement from the union on Monday.
Meanwhile, classroom assistants, security guards and custodians represented by SEIU Local 73, who also went on strike with the teachers on Oct. 17, reached a tentative deal with the district Sunday.
“This is a victory for working people in Chicago and shows what is possible when we unite and take action,” Dian Palmer, president of SEIU Local 73, said in an emailed statement on Monday. “The lowest paid support workers who are the backbone of our schools are going to see raises that mean their families won’t have to struggle living in an expensive city where costs keep going up.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Shruti Date Singh in Chicago at ssingh28@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Elizabeth Campbell at ecampbell14@bloomberg.net, Michael B. Marois
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