The Chicago Teachers Union announced Monday that its members overwhelmingly voted to ratify a new contract agreement with Chicago Public Schools, making official a deal that notches pay raises for educators, new librarians for schools and smaller class sizes for students.
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.
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 will likely vote to approve the deal at its monthly meeting April 24.
The new deal gives teachers cost-of-living raises of about 4 percent each year and increases teacher pay from $86,000 to $114,000 by the 2027-28 school year.
Members said this was a historic moment. The contract is the union’s first without a strike vote in 15 years. In 2019, 80% of members ratified a deal after an 11-day walkout.
Some highlights of the Chicago Teachers Union contract include:
- Doubles the number of libraries and librarians for schools.
- Enforceable and smaller class sizes for all grade levels.
- Ensuring social workers and nurses serve students in every school, every instructional day.
- Doubles the bilingual education staffing support for students.
- Additional staffing, curricular and enrollment supports for Early Childhood education students and programs.
- Creates 215 more case manager positions district-wide to support students with disabilities.
- Increases prep time for clinicians, elementary and special education teachers.
- Expanded benefits for dental, vision, infertility and abortion care, gender-affirming care, hearing aids, speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, chiropractic services.
- A more than tripling of the number of Sustainable Community Schools, from 20 to 70, over the course of the agreement.
- Provides CTU, CPS, City and sister agency coordination for the first time to provide housing support, section 8 vouchers, rental assistance and affordable units to CPS families in need.
- Enshrines 12 weeks paid parental leave, equal parental, personal illness, and supplemental leave rights.
- A Green Schools initiation of additional resources and collaboration to remediate lead, asbestos and mold in aging school buildings while upgrading to green energy with environmentally sustainable technology, materials and practices.
- Protections for academic freedom, Black history, and culturally relevant curriculum for the first time in the contract.
- An additional $10 million annual investment in sports programming.
- Protections for academic freedom that enshrine educators’ ability to teach Black, indigenous, and other history.
- Continuation of Sanctuary School procedures.
- A new article that creates LGBTQIA+ safe schools.