{"id":2236189,"date":"2024-05-03T05:11:02","date_gmt":"2024-05-03T09:11:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/50-billion-chicago-teachers-union-contract-demands-higher-pay-and-lower-expectations\/"},"modified":"2024-05-03T05:18:27","modified_gmt":"2024-05-03T09:18:27","slug":"50-billion-chicago-teachers-union-contract-demands-higher-pay-and-lower-expectations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/50-billion-chicago-teachers-union-contract-demands-higher-pay-and-lower-expectations\/","title":{"rendered":"Chicago Teachers Union Contract Seeks Increased Pay and Reduced Expectations for $50 Billion"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2F50-billion-chicago-teachers-union-contract-demands-higher-pay-and-lower-expectations%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2236189&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is pushing \u200ba \u2062$50\u200b billion demand\u2064 in contract talks, aiming to prioritize union gain over students&#8217; welfare\u200c and burdening taxpayers. The proposed contract is heavily focused on social issues, diverting from academic concerns, \u200dand seeks significant salary raises with high yearly increments. This one<a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/special-counsel-jack-smiths-gag-order-designed-to-destroy-trumps-first-amendment-right-to-criticize-biden-on-campaign-trail\/\" title=\"Special Counsel Jack Smith's gag order aims to suppress Trump's First Amendment right to criticize Biden during the campaign.\">-sided approach raises concerns<\/a> about educational quality \u200dand fiscal responsibility.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-content\">\n<p>The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has kicked off a season of contract negotiations by issuing a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=9cqUlj2oSb8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">$50 billion<\/a> list of demands that will enrich the union at taxpayers\u2019 expense and provide little, if any, benefit to the city\u2019s students.<\/p>\n<p>Right now, Chicago Public Schools delivers terrible results at a very high cost. Last school year, the district <a href=\"https:\/\/nces.ed.gov\/ccd\/districtsearch\/district_detail.asp?ID2=1709930\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">spent<\/a> more than $21,000 per student, well above the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/newsroom\/press-releases\/2023\/public-school-spending.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">national average<\/a> of $14,347. And on the last Nation\u2019s Report Card, only <a href=\"https:\/\/nces.ed.gov\/nationsreportcard\/subject\/publications\/dst2022\/pdf\/2023010xc8.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">21 percent of the city\u2019s eighth graders<\/a> were proficient readers.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2-long d-flex justify-content-center\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center; \" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-725272247\">\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1379703300879-0\" class=\"mb-30\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-04bf63ac9a05018ed4d6e7ea3b87859e fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-04bf63ac9a05018ed4d6e7ea3b87859e\"><\/div>\n<p>But that is of no concern to the CTU, based on its list of <a href=\"https:\/\/files.illinoispolicy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/FILE_0918.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">demands<\/a>. The union intends to require every school to have at least one <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/distressed-children-avoid-using-bathroom-at-school-due-to-transgender-policy-parents-lawsuit-claims\/\" title=\"Distressed Children Avoid Using Bathroom At School Due To Transgender Policy, Parents\u2019 Lawsuit Claims\">sex-neutral restroom<\/a> and for every counselor and social worker to undergo training on \u201cLGBTQ+ issues\u201d each year. It also specifies that no union member may be compelled to tell a student\u2019s parents when the student rejects his or her sex. Since when does a labor union get to decide what parents are allowed to know about their own children?<\/p>\n<p>This isn\u2019t the only way the contract veers into social issues and away from academics. CTU wants taxpayers to pay for unused school facilities to be turned into migrant housing and to pay $2,000 in \u201csupport\u201d to each unaccompanied minor. Ever-hungry for more members, the union also insists each school must have a \u201cnewcomer liaison.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The union is also pushing for policies that will make its youth violence problem worse. The contract put forward by CTU calls for \u201cpolice-free schools,\u201d security guards (presumably members of the union), and the creation of school safety committees at each school chaired by \u2014 who else? \u2014 the union delegate or the delegate\u2019s appointee.<\/p>\n<p>The contract also calls for mandatory annual restorative practices training for all school-based employees. There\u2019s one glaring problem: Restorative practices don\u2019t work. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rand.org\/pubs\/research_reports\/RR2840.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">randomized controlled study<\/a> conducted by Rand in Pittsburgh found that schools that used restorative practices saw no benefit to either arrest rates or academic achievement (in fact, academic performance decreased in grades six through eight). Restorative practices do, however, give the union pretext for forcing the district to hire \u201crestorative justice coordinators.\u201d The union wants one in every school and another 50 hired each year through 2028.  <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3e1654ce2c416a3e5f6aef9bca3cd370 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-3e1654ce2c416a3e5f6aef9bca3cd370\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Another Excuse Not to Work<\/h2>\n<p>The union\u2019s policies will not prevent school violence, but they will leverage unsafe schools as a reason to close schools and lower teacher performance standards. After any \u201ctraumatic event\u201d at a school, the superintendent will be required to meet with the head of the CTU to discuss closing the school for some time. The union learned from its success in keeping schools closed during Covid, and it is baking into the contract a new excuse to pay teachers for not working while students suffer. \u201cNo school will reopen until all necessary supports, both physical and emotional, are in place,\u201d the contract says, yet it does not define a \u201ctraumatic event\u201d or \u201cnecessary supports.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In the eyes of the union bosses, \u201ctrauma\u201d is also a reason to stop evaluating teachers. \u201cIn the case of a traumatic event at a particular school or subset of schools, the evaluation process shall be suspended for an entire year (365 days) for all staff,\u201d according to the contract. But the union isn\u2019t going to wait around for a reason to lower teachers\u2019 job performance standards. It is pushing to decrease the score a teacher needs to be rated \u201cproficient\u201d and to reduce the frequency of evaluations for some tenured teachers from annually to once every three years. Plus, it is expanding opportunities for teachers to have poor performance ratings overturned.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">More Pay, More Teacher Aides<\/h2>\n<p>Bad teachers will get to stick around, and when they do, they\u2019ll be compensated handsomely. The union wants 9 percent annual cost-of-living raises that would <a href=\"https:\/\/www.illinoispolicy.org\/chicago-teachers-union-demands-51k-raise-for-average-teacher\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">bring the average teacher\u2019s salary<\/a> to nearly $145,000 over the next four years, per the Illinois Policy Institute, which <a href=\"https:\/\/files.illinoispolicy.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/FILE_0918.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">published the contract<\/a> online. That\u2019s a tough pill to swallow in Chicago, where the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.census.gov\/quickfacts\/fact\/table\/chicagocityillinois\/INC110222\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Census Bureau reports<\/a> a median household income of less than half that sum. The union also wants to force the district to hire 2,500 new teacher aides, despite <a href=\"https:\/\/www.chalkbeat.org\/chicago\/2023\/9\/19\/23881541\/chicago-public-schools-enrollment-2023-increase-migrants\/#:~:text=CPS%20enrollment%20has%20been%20in,declines%20of%20roughly%2010%2C000%20students.\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stagnant district enrollment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The union wants a policy that prioritizes saving the jobs of minority teachers in the event of layoffs. Its proposal includes nothing about teacher performance.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b9aa269498db5792ad7e53d6c1d32fc4 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-b9aa269498db5792ad7e53d6c1d32fc4\"><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Mayor\u2019s Support<\/h2>\n<p>Those unfamiliar with Chicago politics could be forgiven for thinking city officials are likely to laugh the union bosses out of the room. Instead, the union has an ally in the mayor\u2019s office because the union decided who would hold the mayor\u2019s office. Mayor Brandon Johnson is a former paid CTU organizer, and the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/solar-industrys-reliance-on-chinese-forced-labor-threatens-bidens-green-economy\/\" title=\"Solar Industry\u2019s Reliance on Chinese Forced Labor Threatens Biden\u2019s Green Economy\">union spent millions<\/a> to get him elected. And if Johnson balks at any of the 700 demands? Well, the CTU is prepared to strike.<\/p>\n<p>Union boss Stacy Davis Gates, who sends her own son to a private Catholic school, <a href=\"https:\/\/chicago.suntimes.com\/city-hall\/2024\/04\/18\/chicago-teachers-union-new-contract-ctu-strike-stacy-davis-gates-schools-cps-brandon-johnson\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told the Chicago Sun-Times<\/a><em>, <\/em>\u201cWe\u2019re a labor union that understands the power of solidarity and the power of work stoppage.\u201d This leaves Chicago Public Schools families in a bind. Their options are to let the public schools do an even worse job for students or resign to the public schools not doing their job at all. This is what teacher union power does to schools and the families they\u2019re supposed to serve. Every city in America would be wise to learn this painful lesson before it happens to them.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-95ac0d186326978b807598f21cd55617 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-95ac0d186326978b807598f21cd55617\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">    \t\t\t\t\t   \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) initiated contract talks with a hefty $50 billion demand, potentially burdening taxpayers with limited benefits for students. Chicago Public Schools&#8217; costly yet ineffective outcomes highlight the need for significant improvements in educational efficiency<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1883,"featured_media":2236190,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/stacy-e1714606198537.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2236189","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/05\/stacy-e1714606198537.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236189","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1883"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2236189"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2236189\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2236190"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2236189"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2236189"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2236189"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}