Now that Chicago Teachers Union members have ratified a new contract, CTU President Karen Lewis detailed what comes next for the union and Chicago Public Schools district.
“We will work with them to shore up their financial issues by promoting legislation that will adequately and equitably fund all of Illinois’ schools,” she said during a speech before the City Club of Chicago.
In discussing the vote results, Lewis said, “What I can tell you is that the level of distrust between the district, parents, educators and communities is still high, and will need a lot of work to repair these wounds.”
The Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools district have yet to reach a contract agreement to avert a potential teachers strike this Tuesday.
Chicago parents, aldermen and state lawmakers urged the city Friday to support a TIF surplus ordinance to help avert a potential teachers strike next week and alleviate school budget cuts.
The Chicago Teachers Union’s governing body approved an October 11 strike date Wednesday, putting the union one step closer toward its second walkout since 2012.
“If we cannot reach an agreement by then, we will withhold our labor,” CTU President Karen Lewis told reporters Wednesday evening after a special meeting of the union’s House of Delegates.
CTU and school district officials have yet to agree on a new labor contract to replace the one that expired in June 2015.
Five Chicago aldermen want to surplus funds from a tax increment financing, or TIF, district located in their wards and use the money to help “alleviate the budget crisis” at the cash-strapped Chicago Public Schools.
The Chicago Teachers Union’s governing body approved an October 11 strike date Wednesday, putting the union one step closer toward its second walkout since 2012.