1,000 CPS Teachers Set To Be Laid Off

CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Chicago Public Schools are poised to lay off about 1,000 teachers soon.

As WBBM Newsradio 780's Bob Conway reports, the layoffs include a yearly cut in staff because of school closings and dropping enrollment, but the Chicago Tribune reports this time, they also include budget cuts to about 150 supplemental teaching posts, and reductions in programs.

District officials say any cuts to reduce the more than $700 million budget shortfall will not impact class sizes. But the Chicago Teachers Union does not agree, the newspaper reported.

The new administration of the Chicago Public Schools and the Teachers Union have already found themselves at odds with one another.

Earlier this month, the Chicago School Board voted to cancel a promised 4 percent raise for teachers, on the grounds that the school system simply cannot afford it.

LISTEN: Newsradio 780's Bob Conway reports

CTU president Karen Lewis said afterward that the union will sit down to renegotiate the pay package that the board canceled. She would not make any predictions about how the talks might end, but said a strike is a possibility.

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• Chicago Public Schools
• Bob Conway