Chicago Teachers Union Reaches Tentative Agreement, But Strike Not Over Yet!
The CTU reached a tentative agreement with Chicago Public Schools. The CTU House of Delegates voted 364-242 to suspend the strike pending resolution of final issues. The settlement, which meets most of the CTU demands, will be voted on by the full membership within 10 days.
But the strike is not yet over. The sides are very close but the union wants an assurance that there will be no loss of instructional time for the students. They want to make up the instructional time, possibly by extending the school year. Thus far, Mayor Lightfoot says no.
The union made no concessions. For the first time ever, they have won enforceable guarantees about class sizes, though the agreed-upon limits are still too large: no more than 32 students in K-3. No more than 35 in upper grades. $35 million has been pledged for class size reductions, which will be lowered as funding permits. The agreement commits the city not to authorize any new charters, nor add to the current enrollment of students in charter schools.
No school tomorrow while the bargaining continues.
The settlement contains not only caps on class sizes, but guarantees about school nurses, and other important CONTINUE READING: Chicago Teachers Union Reaches Tentative Agreement, But Strike Not Over Yet! | Diane Ravitch's blog
