Chicago Teachers Union members voted in overwhelmingly numbers to ratify their new contract agreement with Chicago Public Schools, making official a deal that notches improvements for educators and students but leaves political turmoil in its wake.
After almost a year of negotiations, 97% of members who voted late last week approved the contract, according to the union. About 85% of the CTU’s 27,000 eligible voting members participated.
Speaking at a press conference Monday morning, CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said the results are the product of “democracy and engagement.” She said the union leadership and bargaining team members have spent the last week and a half talking to teachers and other staff.
“If you look at the way in which our operation works democratically — that is a practice now, that muscle is strong, so that should be the expectation: that people are engaged, that people have an understanding, that they get their questions answered, they see the progression of the work, and then they ratify it in those numbers,” she said.
The contract is the CTU’s first without a strike or a strike vote in 15 years, and ratification with 97% approval is much higher than other votes in that time. In 2019, 80% of voting members ratified a deal after an 11-day walkout. In 2016 it was 79% approval, and 72% in 2012.
Davis Gates said this contract built on agreements in previous contracts, which were settled after strikes. For example, the 2019 contract set class size thresholds that were lowered in this contract. She harkened back to Karen Lewis, the revered late CTU president.
“She never said that you won,” Davis Gates said. “She never said that ‘this is the end.’ ”
Voting took place by paper ballot in schools and voting locations across the city on Thursday and Friday, and counting wrapped up over the weekend. The Board of Education is expected to vote on the deal at its monthly meeting April 24. CPS says CEO Pedro Martinez plans to recommend approval.
CTU and CPS reached a tentative agreement in late March on the contract, which gives teachers 4% to 5% raises in each of the deal’s four years; sets lower class size limits; provides extra pay for veteran educators; grants more planning time for elementary school teachers; increases funding for sports programs; and adds potentially hundreds of staff positions, including 90 librarians.
In a statement, CPS officials said they “are incredibly proud of the targeted investments that support our highest need learners and continue to place the needs of our students first.”
“This tentative agreement stays true to the District’s values and vision for what a child’s daily learning experience should look like while rewarding the excellent work of our educators in a financially responsible way.”
Bob Reiter, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, called the turnout for voting and support “incredible.” He said that other unions with thousands of super involved members involved in decision making often struggle to get as much support. He added that the contract is important at this moment with the Trump administration “deconstructing the education infrastructure.”
Chicago parents expressed relief that the contact was approved without a strike.
Taryn Montoya, who has four children in the city schools, says strikes are a “huge disruption in everyone’s lives, affecting a lot of families, students, learning and the teachers. And I think the teachers truly are number one. I don’t know what I would do without our teachers and all of the help that they provide.”
Montoya, who lives in Arcadia Terrace on the Northwest Side, said the union’s focus on smaller classes is critical for being able to reach students at different academic levels, and she’s a strong supporter of the CTU’s effort to get more resources for sports to keep kids active.
Union leaders said it was impressive that the contract was landed without a strike, though it would have been difficult for the CTU to strike with their friend Brandon Johnson in the mayor’s office. Yet leading up to the contract deal, there was significant strife.
Johnson and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez disagreed on how to pay for the CTU contract along with other significant expenses, including a disputed city pension payment for CPS employees.
Union leaders turned on Martinez as a result and began publicly blasting him.
Eventually, the saga led Johnson’s entire handpicked school board to resign in October and his replacement board to fire Martinez in December.
Martinez’s contract allowed him to stay on through June because he was fired without cause. He alleged in a lawsuit against the Board of Education that its members interfered with his job overseeing CTU negotiations.
In the end, Martinez and Davis Gates remained at odds. Martinez was critical as he exited a City Hall meeting meant to bring the sides together to land a deal. Davis Gates, meanwhile, has continued to say Martinez was the biggest obstacle to an agreement.
The CTU’s attention now turns to its internal leadership election in May. A rival slate is running against Davis Gates’ team, whose caucus has led the union since 2010.