Chicago Teachers Approve Contract with Remarkable Gains
Teachers union members applaud after the Chicago Teachers Union’s House of Delegates voted for the tentative agreement. Photo: CTU
This month, 85 percent of the Chicago Teachers Union’s 27,000 active members voted on a tentative agreement covering 500 public schools across the city. A record 97 percent voted yes.
The contract will run from 2024 to 2028, expiring at the same time as the UAW’s contracts with the Big Three. The negotiation drew the greatest level of member participation and support in the CTU’s history and was achieved without a strike or a strike vote.
The new contract addresses both bread and butter concerns and common-good demands. Said CTU president Stacy Davis Gates, a member of the union’s Caucus of Rank and File Educators: “It was the whole buffet.”
NEW CONDITIONS
There have been three Chicago Public School strikes since the slate supported by the reform caucus CORE, with Karen Lewis as president, came to power in 2010. This contract is more comprehensive, and includes the biggest raises and step increases, since the advent of collective bargaining for Chicago teachers in 1967. It also lowers class sizes at every grade level.
New political and bargaining conditions contributed to the strong contract and overwhelming ratification vote. After the Illinois legislature restored teachers’ full bargaining rights in 2021, this year the CTU was able to bargain on issues other than wages and benefits for the first time in three decades. The city’s current mayor, Brandon Johnson, a former CTU member and middle school teacher, supported teachers’ contract goals.
Members were highly engaged in the negotiation. They submitted over 700 proposals (10 times more than in 2019), and doubled their participation in bargaining through union committees. The CTU’s largest ever bargaining team (65 rank and file members) not only led negotiations but initiated the first open bargaining ever, with four two-hour sessions accessible to members and the public.
Under the new contract, union members will see a cost of living adjustment of 17-20 percent (tied to inflation) over the contract. Veteran educators will get raises to encourage them to stay in the district. The contract also expands dental, vision, infertility, and abortion care, as well as gender-affirming care. It guarantees workers will get 12 weeks of paid parental leave and that leave rights will include paraprofessionals and other school personnel.
EXTRAORDINARY ADVANCES
The contract is a forcefield to protect against Trump’s attacks on public education. It will reverse the privatization of key positions like tech coordinators and nurses while vastly improving staffing for librarians, case managers for students with disabilities, and teachers who support English Language Learners. And for the first time, it includes protections for academic freedom, Black history, and culturally relevant curriculum. It calls for the continuation of Sanctuary Schools, and creates LGBTQIA+ safe spaces in schools.
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“We’re proud to have landed a transformative contract that turns away from decades of disinvesting in Black children and turns toward creating the world-class education system for every single student in CPS, no matter their zip code,” said Davis Gates.
Under the new agreement, the union, Chicago Public Schools, and city agencies will coordinate for the first time to provide housing support for CPS families in need.
The contract also embraces greener schools. It calls for increasing the number of “Sustainable Community Schools” from 20 to 70 over the course of the agreement. It will provide additional resources to remediate lead, asbestos, and mold in aging school buildings while upgrading to green energy with environmentally sustainable technology, materials, and practices.
“Our union is bargaining for what every parent wants for their child in our school communities,” said Davis Gates, including “access to arts, sports, wrap-around supports, and libraries. Our members should not have to fight to rebuild libraries. All of these resources should already exist in every single school community.”
Our new contract, along with a growing resistance to federal attacks on working families, should give us hope and sustenance for the fights ahead.
BANDING TOGETHER TO COUNTER THE TRUMP ATTACK
While the Chicago teachers’ new contract is a layer of protection from Trump’s attacks on academic freedom and anti-immigrant policies, the federal budget for public schools is still under the axe. Trump may also spark a recession that drains revenues in Chicago and school systems around the country.
Trump’s Border Czar Tom Homan has promised to make Chicago ground zero for mass deportations. Homan has threatened elected officials, like Mayor Brandon Johnson, with arrest. Johnson’s background as a CTU member and organizer may be one reason Homan is targeting the city.
On January 24, federal agents attempted to enter a Chicago public school to apprehend an 11-year-old because of their social media posts; they also deployed Secret Service agents to the child’s home.
This suggests Trump will be ruthless in wielding the machinery of the state. It is also creating the conditions for mass protests against attacks on undocumented workers, similar to what we saw in Chicago on May 1, 2006, when 400,000 people mobilized in response to the anti-immigrant Sensenbrenner bill.
Already, hundreds of schools have mobilized walk-ins and sanctuary teams to fight back against the Trump attack on LGBTQ, immigrant, and Muslim students, on Black history, and on public institutions.
In March, the Chicago Teachers Union brought together unions facing contract expirations with immigrant rights organizations and national networks planning May Day marches to discuss shared demands, tactics, and solidarity. Over 250 people across 26 states and British Columbia came from large teachers’ union locals as well as the Auto Workers, Service Employees, and dozens of other labor unions and community organizations, from Make The Road to Mijente and Showing Up for Racial Justice.
Participants shared plans for upcoming marches and protests, and discussed their campaigns to support our public schools, higher education, healthcare, immigrant rights, civil rights, and worker rights.
Following the spectacular April 5 #HandsOff protests, May 1, 2025, will be another key test for movement forces to mobilize against Trump’s attacks. It’s an opportunity to demonstrate our collective vision for a society that provides union rights, immigrant and civil rights, and invests in low-income communities, with housing, healthcare, and fully funded schools for all.
Cities across the country are building marches and actions at www.maydaystrong.org.
Jackson Potter is vice-president of the Chicago Teachers Union.
