CTU to present CPS contract proposal to bargaining team after year of negotiations

CHICAGO (WLS) -- There were new details Friday in the negotiations over a new contract for Chicago Public Schools teachers.

After nearly a year of bargaining that at times has bubbled over into a public war of words, CTU and CPS have a potential deal, but it still needs the approval of multiple governing bodies within the union.

With students set to return Monday from spring break, Chicago Teachers Union said it has received a set of proposals that it will present to its big bargaining team.

ABC7 Chicago is now streaming 24/7. Click here to watch

For over a decade, the Chicago Teachers Union has settled contracts through strikes, but not this time. After a year of tough negotiations, CTU and Chicago Public Schools have reached a potential deal without job action.

"We had over 720 proposals, and we widdled those down," CTU counsel Latoyia Kimbrough said.

This week, bargaining came down to multiple contentious issues, including veteran educator pay, elementary teacher planning time and teachers evaluations.

"We've made a lot of progress, like this is going to be, as our president says, a transformative contract," Kimbrough said.

On Monday, CTU will present its contract offer to it's big bargaining team. The union team can approve it or send the deal back to the negotiating table.

CPS shared the following statement Friday afternoon:

"Chicago Public Schools (CPS) and leadership from the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) continued to negotiate details of a pending proposed contract and we are pleased with the progress that has been made on the remaining issues. CPS respects CTU's process of bringing a comprehensive package to its big bargaining team for approval, after which they will present the package to the House of Delegates in the near future. Our goal has always been to reach a fair contract resolution that recognizes the significant contributions of our educators while being mindful of our budgetary limitations and fiduciary responsibilities."

CTU calls it a transformative contract. Others say it's one the school district cannot afford, and it's an open question how CPS will pay beyond the contract's first year for the expected 4-5% annual teacher raises, and staffing increases for librarians and teaching assistants.

"It's going to require an increase in local and state revenue sources, especially with the expectation that there will not be any new dollars and potentially cuts coming from the federal government," said Hal Woods, Chief of Policy at Kids First Chicago.

While CPS has the money to retroactively fund the contract for the current school year, Joe Ferguson with the Civic Federation has been warning CPS the district will have a tough time paying for the remaining three years of the deal, given the huge deficit CPS faces.

"More or less the money is there for right now. The expectation is this will be a back-loaded contract," Ferguson said. "What we know is that there's going to have to be a pretty significant reckoning with the right sizing of the district, long term capital planning, long term financial planning."

Ferguson said revenue streams are dried up because taxpayers are likely tapped out with property tax increases. A bill has been introduced in Springfield for the state to take over CPS, a move Ferguson says may be necessary.

"We may be facing the prospect of needing a school Finance Authority reactivation at the state level, which would put the financial guardrails and standards and breaks on a lot of what's been going on," Ferguson said.

CTU's Big Bargaining Team will receive the latest proposals on Monday afternoon, but even if it approves the deal, a majority vote of the union's House of Delegates and its full membership would still be needed for an agreement to be final.