Institute Experts on the Chicago Teachers Union Strike A meditation on the Chicago Way The CTU strike has ended and a lot of people are asking: “what happened?” Five things you need to know about Chicago Public Schools Five critical facts to keep in mind during the CTU strike. Cheat Sheet: Chicago Public Schools A...

CPS released a side-by-side comparison of the 2003, 2007, 2012 contracts

Last week bargaining teams from the Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Teachers Union reached an agreement on broad terms of a contract that could end the strike.  The agreement hit a snag over the weekend when the union’s Board of Delegates voted to extend the strike until at least Wednesday, in order to give themselves...

Chicago Public Schools has posted the District's full Employee Position File

Statement from Mayor Rahm Emanuel on the Chicago Teacher’s Union Choice to Continue to Strike. I will not stand by while the children of Chicago are played as pawns in an internal dispute within a union. This was a strike of choice and is now a delay of choice that is wrong for our children....

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...