CPS and CTU Bargaining Teams Reach Comprehensive Proposed Contract

CHICAGO - Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) have reached agreement on a comprehensive proposed contract that upholds the District's values and priorities as outlined in the five-year strategic plan, including keeping students at the center of all decisions. CTU leadership will now present the contract as a tentative agreement to the House of Delegates for approval, then all teachers, for ratification, before CPS CEO Pedro Martinez advances the contract to the Chicago Board of Education for final approval. The package recognizes the significant contributions of educators but also reflects the District’s budgetary constraints and fiduciary responsibilities, all while avoiding a strike.

“Our CPS bargaining team has negotiated in good faith every step of the way and stayed true to our values for public education,” said CPS CEO Pedro Martinez, himself a CPS alum and CPS parent. “We made sure that this agreement respects the hard work of our talented educators and reflects what’s best for students.”

CEO Martinez praised the pending contract for protecting instructional time during the school day, maintaining a high level of instruction and allowing for investments that are responsible and sustainable. He thanked the negotiations team, including Chief Education Officer Bogdana Chkoumbova, Chief Operations Officer Charles Mayfield, Chief Labor Relations Officer Miguel Perretta, Chief Talent Officer Ben Felton, and Chief Budget Officer Mike Sitkowski, among others for their commitment to negotiations through nights, weekends and holidays.

CPS already proudly provides one of the most competitive wage and benefits packages in the nation for our dedicated educators and the offers on the table continue to elevate the District’s teaching and learning conditions and benefits to attract and retain a strong teacher workforce and support the District’s more than 325,000 students. Early in negotiations, going back to last fall, CPS offered teachers a four percent raise plus step increases for the current and first year of the contract (School Year 2025) and four to five percent Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) raises, plus step increases, for the remaining three years. This means a raise of 4 to 7.5 percent in the first year and four to 8.5 percent each of the remaining three years.

TEACHER COMPENSATION
The contract will mean a pay raise of at least 16 percent for all teachers over the life of the contract, not including additional “step” increases that educators receive for years of service. These will be the largest annual raises for CPS educators in over 13 years, and maintains our educators’ position as among the highest paid public school teachers in the country.

In SY24, the starting salary for an entry level teacher without a college degree was $66,330. The median CPS teacher will earn (Lane 2, Step 11,) $94,966. Under the pending contract proposal, an entry level teacher will earn nearly $69,000 and the median teacher will make more than $98,000 in FY26.

On average, teachers contribute 2.66 percent of their salaries to health insurance, which is significantly lower than the average contribution of approximately 7 percent for private sector employees.

The proposed contract provides an additional $30 million in pay increases over four years to recognize the dedication of our District’s longest-serving educators, and to help ensure that students will continue to benefit from their talent and expertise.

TEACHER EVALUATIONS
Over the past several years, CPS has implemented strategic measures and programming to recruit and retain a diverse team that reflects the diversity of our student body and city. The CPS teacher evaluation system, known as REACH, is designed to help teachers strengthen their professional practices.

Under the new contract, teachers rated as “Excellent” or teachers with 19 years experience and scoring on the high end of “Proficient” for two evaluation cycles as well as Nationally Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs) will be evaluated every three years. All other teachers rated “proficient” will be evaluated on a two-year cycle.

Various measures are also being implemented to address the concerns to ensure the District is supporting the best implementation of the evaluation system and providing additional support and resources to those educators who are working to meet standards.

The District will also look to ensure equity in standard performance evaluations, especially for those teachers dedicated to working in our schools with the highest needs. Importantly, through negotiations, the District has agreed teachers with a rating of “developing” will receive extra support. CPS has also expanded the number of teachers who would be able to appeal their evaluations.

CLASS SIZE
The District is committed to prioritizing class size limitations in order to ensure that all students receive the attention they require for their academic success. The District has aligned with the CTU to establish new class size limits for various grade levels.

The maximum class sizes are as follows:
25 students in Kindergarten, 28 students in grades 1 to 3, 30 students in grades 4 to 8, and between 29 to 31 students in grades 9 to 12, depending on the specific class.

Beginning in School Year 2025-26, CPS will increase funding from $35 million to $40 million to provide extra support through additional teachers or teacher assistants, for class size relief.

The funding model introduced in FY 2025 ensures that every school receives essential resources provided by the District. This means that each school has a principal, an assistant principal, core classroom teachers, holistic teachers, counselors, and a clerk. Additionally, the District supplies every school with funding for professional development, baseline funding to meet discretionary needs, and centrally-managed operational positions, including custodians, engineers, security staff, and lunchroom personnel. Moreover, there are before- and after-school programs that support athletics, enrichment, and other activities.

Schools with the highest needs receive additional district resources to support their students. These resources include more teachers to facilitate smaller class sizes, extra discretionary funding, additional counselors, instructional coaches, intervention teachers, tutoring services, advocates for students in temporary living situations, special education positions, supplemental resources for English learners, social and emotional support, and restorative justice coordinators.

This new funding model guarantees that all schools have the necessary resources, and the agreement with the CTU further enhances these commitments.

TEACHER PREP TIME
CPS recognizes the critical role of preparation time in ensuring high-quality instruction and CPS elementary teachers already enjoy the most paid planning time in the country.

Elementary teachers currently 60 minutes of prep every day for a total of 330 minutes per week. Under the proposed contract gives CPS teachers an extra 10 minutes of planning time per day, allowing a minimum of 70 minutes per day, for a total of 350 minutes per week.

Additionally, three professional development days will be restructured to give elementary school teachers additional planning time, and principal-directed prep periods in the last week of each quarter will be changed to teacher-directed prep periods. High school teachers already have 68-72 minutes per day preparation period.

Fortunately for students, the additional 10 minutes per day of paid preparation time for elementary school teachers will not reduce instructional time for students.

ADDITIONAL BENEFITS
Provides 100 percent tuition reimbursement for a bilingual education or English as a Second Language endorsement for up to 300 teachers.

Expands medical and dental insurance benefits at no additional cost for employees making under $90,000 annual salary.

Expands coverage for physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, chiropractic therapy.

Provides access to abortion coverage, infertility, gender-affirming care in all medical plans

Guarantees retention of this school year’s addition allowing three religious holiday benefit days per year.

ADDITIONAL STUDENT AND SCHOOL CONDITIONS
Triples the amount of funding for athletic staff, programs, equipment, and transportation

Provides a teacher assistant in every general education Pre-k classroom

Provides for full-time, network-based fine arts positions to serve schools that have a vacant art position.

Adds 50 more sustainable community schools, up from the current 20. This school model aims to support students and families with services and make schools community hubs.

Centralized pool of 30 bilingual teacher assistants

The proposals are being presented to the entire CTU negotiations team, called the big bargaining team, for approval. If they approve the proposals, they will be presented as a tentative agreement to the CTU House of Delegates for approval. If approved, then teachers will vote to ratify the tentative agreement. Finally, if the agreement is ratified, it will be submitted to the Chicago Board of Education for approval for the school years 2024-25 to 2028-29.