The demands include members getting 9% annual wage increases through fiscal year 2028
By Michael Dorgan Fox News
Published May 5, 2024 8:09am EDT Updated May 5, 2024 8:11am EDT
The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) is negotiating a new contract with the public schools system and is understood to be calling for an extra $50 billion to pay for wage hikes as well as other demands such as fully paid abortions for its members, new migrant services and facilities and a host of LGBT-related requirements and training in schools.
To put the figure into context, the total base tax receipts for the state of Illinois last year were $50.7 billion.
The incredible demands are being made despite its members delivering underwhelming results for its students, with only 21 percent of the city’s eighth graders being proficient readers, according to the last Nation’s Report Card, which provides national results about students' performance.
CTU president Stacy Davis Gates, middle right, and AFT President Randi Weingarten, middle left, join faculty members at a rally on the University of Illinois Chicago campus on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
The union’s demands have not been made public but a leaked document sheds light on the eye-popping demands.
Union President Stacy Davis Gates’ audacious plan calls for members to bank at least 9% wage increases each year through fiscal year 2028.
The average salary of a teacher in Chicago Public Schools is $93,182, according to research by the Illinois Policy Institute, a conservative nonprofit think tank. Therefore, the average teacher’s pay will increase by half to $144,620 in the 2027-2028 school year, it says.
That figure would equate to more than double the median household income in Chicago, according to Census Bureau statistics.
The Chicago Tribune reports that the CPS budget will exceed $9 billion this year, up nearly 30% from $7.4 billion just five years ago. Much of that increase is reflected in teacher salaries, which are among the highest of any big-city teachers in the country.
Last school year, the district spent more than $21,000 per student, far above the national average of $14,347, according to census data.
Gates’ plan also calls for teachers and counselors to be paid a stipend of $1,000 per student per semester when they are assigned a number of students above contractual limits and a retirement bonus of $2,500 for employees with more than 30 years of service.
"We are asking you to give us an opportunity to tell our story," Gates said in a speech in March referring to the union’s plans. "It will cost $50 billion and three cents… yes it will, and so what, that’s audacity."
Union President Stacy Davis Gates’ audacious plan calls for members to bank at least 9% wage increases each year through fiscal year 2028. Gates speaking before a march in 2020. (REUTERS/Max Herman)
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While the figure might seem far-fetched, the union holds tremendous sway in city politics with deep ties to Mayor Brandon Johnson.
Johnson is a former CTU legislative coordinator who was put forward by the union to run for mayor. As of June 30, 2023, CTU had funneled more than $2.6 million into Johnson’s campaign while he received more than $6 million from teachers unions altogether, according to the Illinois Policy Institute.
Meanwhile, Davis herself has come under fire for sending her son to a private school after calling school choice racist.
The leaked demands also address "disparities" in health care with a call for 100% coverage benefits for abortion care, 100% coverage benefits for fertility including full coverage for storage of embryos and any other frozen storage needs.
But the union also wants more taxpayers' funds to go to migrants in its far-reaching plan – earmarking $2,000 to be given to each migrant to help with academics, transportation and mental health counseling.
The union also wants each of the 646 public schools to have a "newcomer liaison" for new students as well as migrant students and unused school facilities to be converted into housing accommodation for migrants.
Chicago Teachers Union president Stacy Davis Gates, left, stands with Mayor Brandon Johnson as he arrives at the Legler Regional Branch of the Chicago Public Library on Feb. 7, 2024. (Terrence Antonio James/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
There is also a whole host of other social justice provisions the union wants, including making sure workers and educators are trained annually on LGBTQ+ issues as a qualification in their job description.
The union also wants to mandate that every school in the district has at least one gender-neutral bathroom.
Additionally, it wants the board to adopt policies that would prohibit any member from being compelled to tell parents when a student rejects his or her sex, according to the documents.
Mailee Smith, senior director of labor policy at the Illinois Policy Institute, has blasted Davis’ demands and said that Mayor Johnson should recuse himself from contract negotiations.
"These demands read more like a political agenda than a serious contract intent on supporting teachers’ wages and benefits, and promoting the education of Chicago students," Smith said in a statement last month.
"These demands are far outside the scope of traditional bargaining, putting taxpayer dollars on the line in pursuit of more union power and social activism."
"We are in the process of calculating the cost of these demands, but we can already tell that funding them will require a sweeping overhaul of finances and new revenues – meaning more and higher taxes for residents. Chicagoans deserve to be represented by a neutral party who is looking out for their finances."
After the Board files for bankruptcy, the court will decertify the union and everyone will take a 50% haircut. If thet eachers don't like it, they can go into private industry.
Teachers should receive higher income because they are expected to perform miracles such as teach homeless malnourished children, assume the role of parents who no longer have time to raise their children, become police officers because many students bring guns to school, tutor and teach, and so on.
ReplyDeleteA lot of demands are placed on teachers and they need special training in order to meet those demands. My major interest is in health education because of the large numbers of obese children and adults who have no idea of what they are putting into their bodies. They just eat!
ReplyDeleteIf you ask how many calories should they eat daily, they have no idea. The same applies to protein, fiber, calcium, vitamin A foods, potassium foods, magnesium foods, and so on. They cannot name any of the foods listed in any of the minerals that our body needs to keep us alive and healthy to prevent overuse of prescription drugs and their dangerous side effects.
Everything people need to know about health and nutrition is available on the internet and methods of how to use the internet for health and nutrition education should be taught to all students and parents because you cannot have an educated society if the brain is not fed properly. Our bodies start old age beginning at age 30s. Your knowledge of nutrition and how the body works will determine how long you will live. I am near age 90 and a retired teacher.
The issue of students and poverty causing health problems is incorrect because health problems are caused by what parents are feeding their children. Junk foods cost more than healthy foods.
ReplyDeleteDry beans are nutritional and less expensive than canned beans. Certain vegetables can grow in pots on the porch. Cooked chicken is less expensive than frozen dinners. Homemade bread has less chemicals. An orange or apple has less sugar and chemicals than juice in the can. Knowledge of nutrition will prevent numerous health problems, costly prescription drugs, increase longevity, reduce the cost of health services, etc. it should be a part of the educational curriculum from kindergarten to college. We only have one body!
The Teachers Union is needed to protect the rights of teachers and guarantees that teachers have what they need to get the job done.
ReplyDeleteNope
DeleteComplaints about children not learning are constant and taxpayers are getting fed up. Most children who are having learning disabilities come from homes where parents are not interested in helping them at home. They have parents who never learn to speak English nor have educational materials at home nor travel to libraries to work with them, and are uncaring role models.
ReplyDeleteNote that highly sophisticated adults and the well-educated know how to research medical reference information and download or purchase the Merck Manual to stay healthy and live longer as well as save money by avoiding medical expenses. The Merck Manual was published in 1899 for medical reference to assist doctors and individuals to prevent costly health problems. They are written in several foreign languages and sold worldwide, as well as upgraded every few years. Barnes and Noble has been selling the Merck since before Amazon was born. There are Merck medical manuals for veterinary medicine, for pediatricians, for geriatrics, and so on. We are living in the era of self-help by self-educating with the use of helpful resources available to us. Stop being a lazy and dependent adult, grow up! Get smart. Send your children to high school and college with medical knowledge from resources available at home.
ReplyDelete