Some CTU Contract Demands Would Hurt Children’s Education
As parents and grandparents of Chicago Public Schools students, we’re watching with dismay as negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union and CPS drift away from our children’s pressing needs.
The Concerns
We love our teachers and want them well-compensated and respected — but we also deserve respect. It’s unfair for CTU or CPS to propose terms that ignore parents and our children’s rights, diminishing our say in their education and potentially driving schools into financial ruin.
The Reality of CPS Education
Only about one in three CPS students reads at grade level, less than one in five is at grade level in math, and over 40% were chronically absent last year — including more than half of high schoolers, according to Illinois Report Card data for 2024. Students feel more disconnected from teachers and peers than before the pandemic.
A Plan for Change
As parents, we often hear about CTU labor negotiations, but rarely about a plan to address educational gaps and disparities — especially a plan that values parental input. We are worried about the cost of the new agreement. If all of the CTU’s demands are met, CPS says it will face a $2.9 billion deficit next school year. Fiscal mismanagement in San Francisco and Detroit helped lead to state intervention and cuts to school programs. We can’t allow Chicago to follow that path.
Instruction Time, Community Schools, and Teacher Ratings
The contract proposal also includes changes that could reduce instructional time, undermine accountability, and diminish parental involvement, all issues that directly affect our children’s education.
- While we understand CTU’s push for more preparation time for elementary school teachers, it can’t come at the expense of our youngest children’s instructional time. They need more learning opportunities, not fewer. More teacher preparation time is fine, but do not cut classroom time.
- Expanding the Sustainable Community Schools program promises to enrich our schools with wraparound support for entire families. However, CTU must not have disproportionate influence in selecting partners. Their exclusive control excludes parents and school communities, undermining the purpose of community schools. Any expansion of community schools must come with a deliberate change in the partner selection process. Otherwise, this demand precludes collaboration, impedes our children’s well-being, and puts politics over progress.
- We also question CTU’s request to exempt these schools from assessments. Removing evaluations eliminates our ability to measure if our children’s needs are met. Accountability is essential to ensure that programs effectively serve our students. We advocate for contract terms that hold all stakeholders — district officials, school leaders, and teachers — accountable for our students’ success.
Conclusion
It’s time for CPS and CTU to refocus on our children. Transparency is critical. Families deserve comprehensive information about student performance. Every school should share data on student successes and challenges. This knowledge will empower us to support our children more effectively. Parents accept our role in our children’s success, but we can’t fulfill it when we lack a clear understanding of their progress.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What do you think about the CTU’s demands?
A: As parents, we believe that some of the demands could harm our children’s education and undermine accountability.
Q: What do you think about the cost of the new agreement?
A: We are worried about the potential $2.9 billion deficit next school year and the impact it could have on our children’s education.
Q: What do you think about the proposal to exempt community schools from assessments?
A: We believe that removing evaluations eliminates our ability to measure if our children’s needs are met and undermines accountability.
Q: What do you think about the plan to lower standards for teacher evaluations?
A: We question how this move will help our children and support teacher growth, given the existing achievement gap in test scores between Black and white students and the need for quality instruction.
Q: What do you think about the role of parents in education?
A: We believe that parents should have a stronger voice in their children’s education and be involved in the decision-making process to ensure that our children receive a high-quality education.
