Chicago Teachers Union rejects latest offer as students miss 8th day of classes
Talks between the Chicago Teachers Union and the public school system stalled Monday over class size and teacher prep time.
Chicago Public Schools students missed an eighth day of classes as the teachers union rejected the city's latest offer to end the longest teachers strike in more than 30 years in the city.
Chicago Public Schools said it had made a $500 million offer, but the union said the two sides are still $38 million apart.
"In addition to double-digit raises for all staff, our offer included another 110M to provide a nurse and social worker for every school and prioritized support for high-need schools," the school system tweeted Sunday.
The offer included $372 million toward 16% across-the-board raises for teachers and support staff, as well as $70 million in staffing investments, including a full-time nurse and social worker in every school, every day, and $40 million in program investments.
“We put everything we could, responsibly, on the table, in an attempt to get a deal done. But we have no deal to announce today, and for that I am terribly disappointed,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said, at a news conference on Sunday night, according to CBS Chicago.
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"This is, by any estimation, and incredible offer – and despite all of this, the CTU has not accepted it," Lightfoot said. "We are enormously disappointed that CTU simply cannot take yes for an answer."
But, in a news conference Sunday night, CTU vice president Stacy Davis Gates said that the city had not met the union's demands. The union wants a three-year contract; the city is offering a five-year contract. The union wants librarians in every school. And the union contends that the city's class-size promises would only impact one-third of students instead of all of them. The union also says the two sides are far apart on how much money should be apportioned to special education needs.
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"A fraction of 1 percent of the annual CPS budget stands between us and an agreement," CTU tweeted. "A number of demands would cost the district virtually nothing. At this point, everyone is suffering but the person who could actually make a difference: the mayor."
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The union for more than 7,500 school support staff members -- who had gone on strike along with the teachers' union -- did reach its own deal on Sunday night.