From the Chicago Teachers Union blog: “Some 800 delegates of the Chicago Teachers Union duly elected from each school and workplace convened Sunday afternoon to discuss the framework established during negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Board of Education. Officers presented a 23-page document (see below) outlining the most important points of...

t is becoming more and more apparent that the big items of contention between the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union were the rehiring of laid-off teachers and teacher evaluations. While claiming that other issues remained unresolved, union officials had said numerous times that they would not agree to a contract without getting...

    Cut through the rhetoric. Here are the facts. CPS Revenues and Expenditures Total revenues: $5,534,664,416 (source Ilearn/ISBE) Total local revenues: $2,508,887,449 (source Ilearn/ISBE) Total state revenues: $1,906,809,466 (source Ilearn/ISBE) Total federal revenues: $1,118,976,501 (source Ilearn/ISBE) Total expenditures 2011: $5,680,099,797 (source Ilearn/ISBE) Chicago public schools will drain their cash reserves this year and will face a $1 billion shortfall during the...

Now that Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis has announced that CTU will strike Monday morning, it is very clear: Children are not the top priority for teachers who belong to the Chicago Teachers Union. The two things that matter most to these teachers are money and avoiding accountability for poor performance. Lewis and the...

Believe it or not, late Friday afternoon the scuttlebutt was that the Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Teachers Union were close to agreeing on a contract.  Progress was the word of the day well into Sunday.  And we all know how all that turned out. Rumors, about how close the sides are to reaching an...

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...

As of tonight, teachers in the Chicago Public Schools are expected to go on strike, and regular classes will not be held Monday morning.

CPS will be draining cash reserves this year just to stay afloat, and will be $1 billion in the red next school year. The 30 percent raise CTU originally asked for is out of the question.