CPS Teachers To Begin Two-Day Vote On Tentative Contract
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Two days of voting get underway Monday by rank-and-file Chicago teachers on the union's tentative four-year deal with the Board of Education.
The Chicago Teachers Union reached a tentative agreement with the Chicago Board of Education last month amid controversy, and averted a strike with minutes to spare.
A third of teacher delegates voted Oct. 19 to recommend rejection of the terms. Asked if she believes teachers will vote to approve, Union President Karen Lewis said she does.
"I think there's enough in this tentative agreement that will appeal to the overwhelming majority of our members," she said.
Teachers would get no raises in the first two years, but would get 4.5 percent cost-of-living increases beginning in 2018. They also would get more prep time.
Newly-hired teachers would have to pay 9.4 percent of their salaries toward healthcare costs; those already employed by the board would keep the so-called 7-percent "pension pickup."
The tentative agreement also would change the system's grading policies, and cap the number of charter schools in the city at 127.
The vote originally was to take place Thursday and Friday of last week, but the union pushed it back because it said it did not have sufficient time to distribute printed copies to rank-and-file teachers.
