When Chicago Public Schools officials announced 760 teacher layoffs in an effort to close a $732 million budget gap, the Chicago Teachers Union didn’t mince words.
“Dead on arrival,” the union called the proposal.
In their eyes, such a move was unthinkable. To nearly everyone else paying attention, however, this was a predictable outcome for a cash-strapped district that now needs to figure out how to balance its books.
After the latest CTU contract passed, we predicted that whoever succeeded former CPS CEO Pedro Martinez would be left with no choice but to resort to furlough days or layoffs. It already was clear this costly contract with its substantial raises (although below initial CTU demands) would eventually make such steps more likely.
More Top Picks Best Poker Chip Sets
This is what happens when an immovable object (CTU) meets an unstoppable force (CPS’ financial crisis). Financial reality tends to win eventually. The teachers union has been unwilling to acknowledge the district’s lack of resources; now the union has to deal with the consequences of that painful reality.
A better option than the DOA rhetoric for CTU would be to come to the table with ideas. “Shared sacrifice” is not a term anyone wants to hear, but in this situation it’s how adults working together to educate the next generation of Chicagoans must navigate some very rough fiscal seas.
The Wednesday announcement from CPS included not just the loss of 760 teachers, but also 801 school-based support staff. On top of that, CPS proposed five furlough days if additional revenue fails to materialize — a move that would erase a meaningful portion of those aforementioned raises.
That points to the shortsightedness and impracticality of such a bargaining strategy. CTU negotiated for raises despite repeated warnings from CPS that the district faced major structural deficits. Union leadership repeatedly argued that fully funding the state’s evidence-based formula would provide roughly another $1 billion annually to CPS and would eliminate the need for these cuts.
Not only did CPS CEO Macquline King not get the help the district sought from Springfield, she’s also facing adversarial union leadership that continues to be unwilling to help her face reality. CTU leaders can’t continue to only say “no” when CPS tackles the district’s financial crisis. Eventually, they need to come to the table with ways to shoulder the burden.
Submit a letter, of no more than 400 words, to the editor here or email [email protected].