Progress reported, but sticking points persist in talks between Chicago Public Schools, teachers' union
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Negotiations continued Monday between the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Public Schools.
Progress was apparently made, and insiders said talk of a strike is not as loud as we've seen in past contract years.
Still, the words are sharp and the tactics are surgical as the CTU tries to score a new contract for members. But those who have followed this for years say this time, unlike other times, the target is the CPS chief executive officer—not the mayor.
"The greatest threat to our bargaining momentum is quite frankly the supreme being of CPS that's in charge of everything," said Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates.
Parents and taxpayers are watching it all closely.
"There has been more of a war of words and dueling press conferences and intensity on both sides," said Mila Koumpilova, a senior reporter for Chalkbeat Chicago
Both CPS and the CTU say there is progress, but also sticking points. But the vitriol leaves some unsettled.
"Stressful and unsettling for families, and for educators too, to hear some of the sharp exchange of words and wonder where this is all headed," said Koumpilova.
Koumpilova said a strike talk has been muted—in a far cry from October 2019, during the first year of then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot's administration, when an 11-day strike left students out of class and the rhetoric ratcheted up.
This time, the union has gear-shifted down the maneuvering that would lead to a strike.
"We're not at a point where that countdown to a strike can begin," said Koumpilova.
The union said the sticking points are class size caps for middle schoolers and high schoolers, A salary structure that rewards and retains veteran teachers, and benefits for school support staff.
The district said agreement has been reached on a number of issues—including health care, sustainable community schools, help for special education teachers, an agreement on gender support coordinators, and dress codes for LGBTQ+ students.
The two sides have not come to terms on the size of pay increases for the next four years of a contract. But CBS News Chicago is told the major sticking points are not financial in nature.
Of course, the elephant in the room here—and a key reason Mayor Brandon Johnson is not the target of CTU anger—is that he himself once worked for the Chicago Teachers Union. The mayor is also on board with a plan to take out a $300 million high-interest loan to help pay for a new teachers' contract and for pension costs once covered by the city.
Chicago Public Schools Chief Executive Officer Pedro Martinez does not support taking out the loan. The current school board voted last month to fire Martinez without cause, but his contract allows him to stay until the end of the school year, meaning he remains in charge of the CPS negotiating team. He has said he rejected Mayor Johnson's demand to step down last September after he rebuffed the mayor's demand to take out the high-interest loan.
