Many students were angry when the Chicago Teachers Union decided not to strike, given that the decision was made at midnight on Monday, October 10th.

To understand why teachers were maybe going to strike, it is important to understand the current state of Chicago Public Schools. On April 1st, many teachers carried signs that said “CPS- Broke on Purpose” because a $500 million dollar hole in the 2015-2016 school year budget forced CPS to borrow money until it maxed out the public debt market, which in turn forced CPS to issue private debt at much higher rates, which led to CPS claiming that they might not make deposits into the teachers pension funds. Luckily, the Illinois state government passed a couple of laws that kept the CPS budget functioning, but the budget was still lacking $200 million. To fill this gap, Mayor Emanuel wanted to cut the “pension pickup,” a deal with the teacher’s pensions that would essentially have been a seven percent pay cut, which is part of the reason CTU was threatening to strike. Despite the fact that CPS is effectively broke, there still seems to be enough money to build a $20 million annex onto Walter Payton College Prep, for example. According to Mr. Dziedzic, Social Studies teacher at WY and lead Chicago Teachers Union delegate, the Chicago Teachers Union is frustrated “not only about the lack of funding but more specifically about the misallocation of funds.” There are many schools without enough books or teachers, particularly in black and brown neighborhoods, yet schools like Payton are receiving unnecessary annexes. Additionally, the teachers have gone 18 month without a contract, have not received any pay raises, and last year had three unpaid furlough days. Approximately 1,000 teachers and paraprofessionals were laid off last year, and class sizes continue to grow.

However, after eighteen months of negotiating and no contract, CPS and the CTU bargaining team finally agreed on a contract. In the new deal, the city will continue to pay seven percent towards the pensions; kindergarten, first, and second grade classes with more than 32 students will have assistants, and much more. The new contract will be paid for with TIFF funds, a special kind of tax. The contract now needs to be ratified by CTU’s house of delegates and then approved by all of the members, so a strike is not completely out of the question but is much less likely at this point.

For most teachers, the news of no strike was a good one. However, students had mixed emotions. Many students had been worried about what the implications of missing school for a strike would be. Rachel Weaver ‘17 was worried that a strike would have “interfered with [her] Early Action applications.” Additionally, many fall athletes, including cross country runner Marc Harvey ‘17 had been concerned that the strike would have interfered with the endings of their seasons- “As a team we are the best we’ve ever been, and I know that everyone wants to get as far as possible, which at this point looks like an all-state finish…All CPS runners (myself included) would be fairly upset if the strike were to interfere with this year’s cross country season.” Other students, however, were looking forward to using the strike as an opportunity to catch up on school work, finish up college applications, and relax. Despite the fact that most of the students and teachers at school on Tuesday were very tired, the news of a potential contract is good news for both students and teachers alike because it means more money, more resources, and most importantly, no disruption of the school year.