What the CTU is Claiming About CPS Proposals

What the Facts Are About CPS Proposals

Move to "merit pay" while getting rid of lanes and step increases.

Merit pay is not an accurate characterization of our proposal. One of CPS's bargaining goals is to implement a new compensation system that is designed to reward, recruit and retain high quality teachers, teachers who assume roles in hard-to-staff subjects or high-need schools and teachers who assume mentor or leadership roles within their schools. For example, teachers that work in hard to fill positions would receive additional compensation for taking those roles.

To this end, CPS has proposed moving to a differentiated pay system, not a merit pay system. CPS has further proposed and that a CPS-CTU committee to be formed by January 1, 2013 to negotiate a mutually agreeable new compensation plan to become effective July 1, 2014. Until a new plan is in place, CPS has offered a cost of living increase consistent with its fiscal constraints of 2% effective July 1, 2012 with freezes on both step and lane increases.

Dramatically increase costs for family health insurance.

Employees pay only a small portion of the total cost of health care - in most cases, roughly 10%. While Families are charged 15% more towards their coverage than singles, the actual cost of family health care is almost 300% more than that of singles. This means that employees with single coverage are subsidizing those with multiple dependents.

To ensure more equity, we are proposing a slight adjustment that will balance out those costs. Under our proposal, over half of our employees would see no change in health care costs and health care costs for employees would remain in the range of 10%-15%.

Weaken our pension fund and cut back on employer contributions, and end PEP.

Pension benefits are not negotiated through the collective bargaining process and are instead governed by statute. CPS has not proposed any legislation related to the Public School Teachers' Pension & Retirement Fund of Chicago ("CTPF").

The Pension Enhancement Program ("PEP") "sunsets" this year. CPS has not proposed to continue it because it increases both CPS and CTPF costs.

Implement a "wellness program" that would Increase your health care costs unless you participate, if you smoke, etc.

CPS is offering all employees a robust wellness program that could have life-saving benefits for participants and decrease their overall health care costs. A very similar wellness program has been adopted by most City labor organizations as well as those at sister agencies, such as the City Colleges, CTA, and others. The only way costs to an employee will increase as a result of the wellness program is if an employee chooses to "opt out" of the program or the employee or spouse is a tobacco user. An employee would then be required to pay the "opt out" fee or a tobacco user's premium.

Furthermore, CPS has proposed moving away from an antiquated, costly and unfair sick day policy that forces members to "bank" sick days to plan for future pregnancies or illness. Under the proposed policy, rather than being compelled to work through illness while "banking" sick days, all members will have access to short term disability benefits for personal illness. Additionally, that policy will provide paid maternity leave at CPS for the first time ever.

What the Facts Are About CPS Proposals

Slash our contract to the bone: The Board proposed a rewrite of our agreement that would take our contract from 230 pages to about 30.

This is untrue. CPS has proposed a long overdue "rewrite" of the current contract, and for good reason. A majority of the current contract's provisions are obsolete, repetitive, misleading and in some cases illegal.

CPS believes that teachers deserve a labor agreement that clearly spells out current rights and obligations. Employees should not have to weed through provisions that are 30 years old and no longer relevant in today's classrooms, such as the number of mimeograph machines per school and how the district labels film canisters.

CPS proposed an initial "framework" for the new agreement with numerous placeholders for important subjects such as health care benefits, salaries and compensation, employee discipline and the grievance procedure. The new contract envisioned by CPS will be shorter, clearer, and far more user-friendly for everyone but still provide employees with substantive protections they currently enjoy.

Arbitrary evaluation procedures that would make firing even the very best of teachers easier.

Last year, CPS and the CTU formed a joint committee of teachers and administrators with substantial educational experience in the classroom and as service personnel. They engaged in 90 hours of negotiation over a period of 114 days in an attempt to reach agreement on a system that teachers and administrators could live with.

The plan, REACH Students is based in large part on the input of 2,300 CPS teachers who shared what they would like to see in a new evaluation system. The plan is state of the art and designed to help teachers succeed through robust observation, feedback and targeted professional development.

REACH Students will be implemented next year in compliance with the Illinois Performance Evaluation Reform Act (PERA), signed into law in Jan 2010, supported by CPS and CTU, mandates that CPS install a comprehensive evaluation system that includes a minimum of 25% for student growth in SY '12-'13.

Removing educators' voices from almost all planning of school curriculum, schedules and policies.

This is untrue. CPS has proposed that school-based committees such as the PPLC be more robust and has advocated at the bargaining table for more targeted teacher voice in standing committees and ad hoc committees as a substitute for decades-old committee structures that have been dormant and ineffective vehicles for teacher participation.

CPS greatly values teacher input, and understands the value of including teachers in the decision-making process when it comes to policies that impact our schools. That's why the foundation of the new teacher evaluation system was based on the feedback of 2,300 teachers from schools across the district.

What the Facts Are About CPS Proposals

Order a dramatically longer school day and year with no promise of extra staff, resources or compensation.

This is untrue. On January 12th of this year, CPS notified the CTU of its decision to lengthen the school day and year. It also offered to bargain with the CTU over the impact of the longer day, including compensation. However, on that same day, the CTU informed CPS that it did not want to bargain over the impact of the longer day.

Further, CPS has expanded funding and flexibility for principals by nearly $130 million in part to help schools plan for the Full School Day next fall. These discretionary dollars can be used to augment additional staffing needs they may have.

Lengthen the school day, but give less prep time for teachers.

As indicated above, this is untrue.

CPS has proposed to dramatically increase time for planning and professional development for all teachers. In all, teachers will receive nearly two hours of additional time for planning and professional development every week. This includes 21 additional minutes – not less – for planning and professional development each day for elementary teachers.

Introduce the new "Common Core Standards" and new evaluation systems, but cut back on professional development.

This is untrue. Currently, CPS gives teachers approximately 70 hours per year in PD. For next year, CPS proposes that teachers will get 120 hours in PD with substantial training focused on common core standards and the new evaluation system.

Completely remove Health and Safety provisions from our contract taking away our ability to protect ourselves and our students from asbestos, dangerously hot classrooms and more.

This is untrue. CPS proposed to retain all safety provisions in the current contract, including specifically a provision that says: "Bargaining unit employees shall work under safe and healthful conditions." All other health and safety provisions have also been retained, such as the procedures for high school security screening and searches and the provision of safety clothing and equipment.

As part of its effort to modernize the labor agreement, CPS has repeatedly invited the CTU to identify important contract provisions that may not yet be included in the framework. CTU has not identified any such provisions.

Remove all references to class size, paving the way to further over-crowding in our classrooms.

This is untrue. CPS proposed to incorporate the Board's class size policy into the agreement just as it is now. The Board has also proposed to describe accurately the structures of the Class Size Monitoring Panel and Class Size Supervisory Committee, which are not correctly represented in the current agreement.

What the is CTU Claiming About CTU Proposals

What the Facts are About CTU Proposals

Lower class sizes, increase number of teacher assistants, clinicians, librarians, counselors and others, and require every school to have full time Art and Music teachers.

For the second year in a row, CPS is protecting class size rather than increasing it to help address two years of $600-700 million deficits.

The CTU has submitted numerous minimum staffing proposals—most of which are not possible without a vast infusion of new revenues over which CPS has little control. Under the CTU's proposal, the Board would be required to hire 6367 additional CTU members—an initial cost of $516 million per year and increasing thereafter.

Maintain high professional standards for teachers and other staff.

CTU has not described any such proposals to CPS.

Force investment in all of our schools across the City.

CTU has not identified any such proposals to CPS. That said, this year, CPS has expanded funding and flexibility given directly to schools by nearly $130 million.

Hold the line on Health Care, Pension and other key benefits.

While the CTU has proposed no solutions to rising health care costs, CPS has developed a proposal to minimize the impact of rising costs on employees and to help contain future health care costs, while improve employee health.

Pension benefits are not negotiated through the collective bargaining process and are instead governed by statute. CPS has not proposed any legislation related to the Public School Teachers' Pension & Retirement Fund of Chicago ("CTPF").

Provide fair raises that recognize the increased difficulties of our work and cost of living.

The CTU proposes to keep the current school day in elementary school, cut all teachers contact time with students significantly (to under two hours per day for special education teachers) and to simultaneously, increase their salaries by 24% in FY2013 and 5% in FY2014 on top of step increases. The CTU's wage proposal would cost CPS $1.2 billion over a two-year period.

Provide new protections against principal abuses and bullying.

CTU has proposed an "anti-bullying" committee to address instances of alleged abuse by principals. CPS believes there are more effective ways to address these teacher concerns. CPS has made several proposals that would further professionalize working conditions affecting time-keeping practices, disciplinary practices, collaboration time between administrators and teachers, etc.

Protect seniority and keep experienced teachers in our schools.

CPS has not proposed to eliminate seniority rights. On the contrary, CPS has proposed to retain them, but to comply with the law by considering other factors as well. CTU'S proposal violates current state law as it is proposing to rely solely on seniority and to disregarding the relative merit.

Ensure that tenured teachers displaced due to layoffs and other non-performance criteria are placed in schools before brand new hires off the street.

CTU is proposing to require local schools to hire teachers displaced form other schools based on seniority rather than on their merit. This proposal violates state law and attempts to take local autonomy away from schools.