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CTU MEMBERS RATIFY NEW CONTRACT WITH 97% APPROVAL  
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Nader Issa, Sarah Karp | WBEZ and Michael Puente | WBEZ
April 14, 2025
Chicago Sun-Times
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_ The contract is the CTU’s first without a strike or a strike vote
in 15 years. The agreement sets lower class size limits, gives pay
raises and could add hundreds of new staff members. _

The main players in CPS contract negotiations: Chicago Teachers Union
President Stacy Davis Gates (from left), Mayor Brandon Johnson and
Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez., Sun-Times file

 

Chicago Teachers Union members voted in overwhelmingly numbers to
ratify their new contract agreement with Chicago Public Schools,
making official a deal that notches improvements for educators and
students but leaves political turmoil in its wake.

After almost a year of negotiations, 97% of members who voted late
last week approved the contract
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according to the union. About 85% of the CTU’s 27,000 eligible
voting members participated.

Speaking at a press conference Monday morning, CTU President Stacy
Davis Gates said the results are the product of “democracy and
engagement.” She said the union leadership and bargaining team
members have spent the last week and a half talking to teachers and
other staff.

“If you look at the way in which our operation works democratically
— that is a practice now, that muscle is strong, so that should be
the expectation: that people are engaged, that people have an
understanding, that they get their questions answered, they see the
progression of the work, and then they ratify it in those numbers,”
she said.

The contract is the CTU’s first without a strike or a strike vote in
15 years, and ratification with 97% approval is much higher than other
votes in that time. In 2019, 80% of voting members ratified a deal
after an 11-day walkout. In 2016 it was 79% approval, and 72% in 2012.

Davis Gates said this contract built on agreements in previous
contracts, which were settled after strikes. For example, the 2019
contract set class size thresholds that were lowered in this contract.
She harkened back to Karen Lewis, the revered late CTU president.

“She never said that you won,” Davis Gates said. “She never said
that ‘this is the end.’ ”

Voting took place by paper ballot in schools and voting locations
across the city on Thursday and Friday, and counting wrapped up over
the weekend. The Board of Education is expected to vote on the deal at
its monthly meeting April 24. CPS says CEO Pedro Martinez plans to
recommend approval.

CTU and CPS reached a tentative agreement in late March on the
contract, which gives teachers 4% to 5% raises in each of the deal’s
four years; sets lower class size limits; provides extra pay for
veteran educators; grants more planning time for elementary school
teachers; increases funding for sports programs; and adds potentially
hundreds of staff positions, including 90 librarians.

In a statement, CPS officials said they “are incredibly proud of the
targeted investments that support our highest need learners and
continue to place the needs of our students first.”

“This tentative agreement stays true to the District’s values and
vision for what a child’s daily learning experience should look like
while rewarding the excellent work of our educators in a financially
responsible way.”

Bob Reiter, president of the Chicago Federation of Labor, called the
turnout for voting and support “incredible.” He said that other
unions with thousands of super involved members involved in decision
making often struggle to get as much support. He added that the
contract is important at this moment with the Trump administration
“deconstructing the education infrastructure.”

Chicago parents expressed relief that the contact was approved without
a strike.

Taryn Montoya, who has four children in the city schools, says strikes
are a “huge disruption in everyone’s lives, affecting a lot of
families, students, learning and the teachers. And I think the
teachers truly are number one. I don’t know what I would do without
our teachers and all of the help that they provide.”

Montoya, who lives in Arcadia Terrace on the Northwest Side, said the
union’s focus on smaller classes is critical for being able to reach
students at different academic levels, and she’s a strong supporter
of the CTU’s effort to get more resources for sports to keep kids
active.

Union leaders said it was impressive that the contract was landed
without a strike, though it would have been difficult for the CTU to
strike with their friend Brandon Johnson in the mayor’s office. Yet
leading up to the contract deal, there was significant strife.

Johnson and CPS CEO Pedro Martinez disagreed on how to pay for the CTU
contract along with other significant expenses, including a disputed
city pension payment for CPS employees.

Union leaders turned on Martinez as a result and began publicly
blasting him.

Eventually, the saga led Johnson’s entire handpicked school board
to resign
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October and his replacement board to fire Martinez in December.

Martinez’s contract allowed him to stay on through June because he
was fired without cause
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He alleged in a lawsuit against the Board of Education that its
members interfered with his job overseeing CTU negotiations.

In the end, Martinez and Davis Gates remained at odds. Martinez was
critical as he exited a City Hall meeting meant to bring the sides
together to land a deal. Davis Gates, meanwhile, has continued to say
Martinez was the biggest obstacle to an agreement.

The CTU’s attention now turns to its internal leadership election
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May. A rival slate is running against Davis Gates’ team, whose
caucus has led the union since 2010.

_[xxxxxx MODERATOR: RELATED - CHICAGO TEACHERS WIN GREENER SCHOOLS
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(LABOR NOTES, APRIL 16, 2025)]_

NADER ISSA reports on racial, social and economic inequality and
injustice and a mix of human interest stories.
SARAH KARP reports on education, children and families.
MICHAEL PUENTE covers news and issues primarily in Northwest Indiana,
Chicago’s Southeast side and South Suburbs.

Winner of eight Pulitzer Prizes, the CHICAGO SUN-TIMES was founded in
1948 through a merger of the Chicago Sun and the Daily Times. It’s
known for hard-hitting investigative reporting, in-depth political
coverage, timely behind-the-scenes sports analysis and insightful
entertainment and cultural coverage.  In 2022, it became part of the
Chicago Public Media family of companies and now operates as a
501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. You can download our FY24 financial
report here
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Support the Chicago Sun Times nonprofit newsroom and keep the paywall
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