Chicago asks school teachers to take 7
percent pay cut: union
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[May 06, 2015]
By Mary Wisniewski
CHICAGO (Reuters) - Three years after a
public school strike, Chicago teacher contract talks are off to a rocky
start, with the debt-burdened district demanding a 7 percent pay cut,
union officials said on Tuesday.
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The Chicago Teachers Union said in a statement it was "highly
insulted" by the district's demands, which include increases in
health insurance premiums. The current contract expires on June 30.
The nation's third-largest school district, which serves 400,000
students, faces a prospective $1.1 billion deficit. Getting to a new
contract, without another strike, will be the first major test of
Mayor Rahm Emanuel's second term.
The process has been complicated by legal problems. Chicago Public
Schools Chief Executive Officer Barbara Byrd-Bennett, appointed by
Emanuel, took a leave of absence in April pending the outcome of a
federal probe into a contract awarded to a company that had employed
her.
![](http://archives.lincolndailynews.com/2015/May/06/images/ads/current/LPL_small%201.gif) "The financial crises facing CPS is real – we face a budget deficit
that exceeds $1.1 billion, while Illinois is second to last in
education funding, and Chicago teachers and taxpayers are being
short-changed because of a broken pension system that forces Chicago
residents to pay twice for teacher pensions," Chicago Public Schools
spokesman Bill McCaffrey said in a written statement.
"In the coming weeks, we hope to work with CTU in Springfield on the
pressing issues facing CPS. Our students and Chicago taxpayers
should not have to continue carrying the burden of these financial
inequities," he said.
Last week, the district declined to extend the existing contract by
one year, which would have cost $105 million.
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"Once again, the board has created a fiscal crisis in order to
justify its continued attack on our classrooms and communities,"
union President Karen Lewis said. "CPS is broke on purpose."
Union staff coordinator Jackson Potter said the union wants Emanuel
to look at financial fixes, such as raising taxes on the richest
residents and recovering what they say are excessive fees paid to
banks that do business with the schools.
The teachers want smaller classes, less standardized testing and to
staff all schools with nurses, librarians and art teachers.
Antipathy between Emanuel and the teachers' union runs deep, from
the 2012 strike, the district's first in 25 years, to a decision to
close 50 schools in 2013 and more recent differences over testing.
(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski; Editing by Eric Beech, Dan Whitcomb
and Alex Richardson)
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