Understanding Chicago Teachers Union’s Unprecedented Contract Demands

The Chicago Teachers Union’s long list of demands includes increased base and experience compensation each year, housing aid, climate justice, more compensation added to pension calculations and a set of health care funds that target racial disparities. . One analysis puts the price at at least $10 billion.

The Chicago Teachers Union is doing its best to push through a new contract full of extreme demands that would cost taxpayers. Of the items that can reasonably be estimated – which is only a small, partial list – the total costs between $10.2 billion to $13.9 billion.

Requirements include:

• Minimum wage increase: 9% annual cost of living adjustments estimated at $2.52 billion.
• Increase in steps per experience: $817 million.
• Expanded stipends: 15% salary increase for National Board Certified teachers, potentially $2 billion.
• Additional staff: Hiring 4,650 staff including teaching assistants and specialists, costing $1.7 billion.
• Student benefits: Free CTA passes and reduced class sizes could cost over $643 million.
• Housing initiatives: Requests include 10,000 new affordable housing units and broad rental assistance, totaling up to $4.7 billion.
• Health and wellness: Full funding for infertility and abortion care, weight loss treatments including Ozempic and other comprehensive health services.
• Electric school buses: Switching to an electric fleet could cost $500 million.
• Green Initiatives: Proposals for carbon neutrality by 2035 with solar installations and green technology education programs.

If Chicago Public Schools gives in to the CTU’s demands, Chicagoans can expect to face rising property taxes, which means more foreclosures for those who can’t afford them. If Johnson gives the union most of what it wants, Chicagoans still have to brace for higher living costs as the city looks for new revenue to pay for it.

Nothing on CTU’s wish list will address CPS’ poor academic proficiency rates. Since 2012, spending has increased by 97%, but student achievement in reading has dropped by 63% and by 78% in math for grades three through eight. With the costs of the claims outlined above – representing only a fraction of CTU’s recent claims – annual costs are set to triple compared to 2012 levels.

The CTU and its affiliates were the biggest supporters of Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who is supposed to represent taxpayers in these negotiations. The mayor, a former CTU activist, must withdraw from collective bargaining with his former employer, an agreement that presents a clear conflict of interest.