Many facts are important to understanding the strike and the demands of the Chicago Teachers Union. Here are just two of them:
1. Chicago teachers are already the highest paid in the nation when compared to the 10 largest school districts in the country, according to the National Council on Teacher Quality. The salary data below cuts across four different categories. Chicago leads with the highest salaries in all four.
2. Compared to other school districts, CPS currently has the shortest day in the nation when compared to the largest metro areas in the country . Chicago’s day is more than 25 percent shorter than Philadelphia’s and 17 percent shorter than the 9-city average.
Looking at this data, one has to ask why the CTU is using the children of Chicago to pursue even greater benefits. Chicago teachers already receive more pay, and teach fewer hours, than their other big city counterparts.
If the unions were really concerned about the education of children, they would be appalled by these numbers.
The Mayor needs to hit a reset button on the negotiations. He can’t afford to sign a contract that locks in four more years of failure.
