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CTU
STRIKES MOSTLY HARM MINORITY STUDENTS, LOW INCOME FAMILIES
Illinois Policy Institute/
Bryce Hill
While the city, Chicago Public Schools and taxpayers are all at
financial risk from Chicago Teachers Union demands, it is ultimately
students who will pay the highest price if the union strikes for the
third time in seven years.
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 The Chicago Teachers Union plans to strike Oct. 17 if their
contract demands aren’t met, but the greatest costs of that decision will be
paid by students.
Experts agree that students suffer when teachers strike. Growth in student test
scores could be reduced by 2.2% for elementary school students. Time away from
the classroom, especially if the strike drags on, most harms subjects such as
mathematics.
This is bad news for Chicago Public School students whose outcomes are already
worse than the state’s average. CPS has recently experienced several years of
declining graduation rates, and already produces grads at a lower rate than the
rest of the state. CPS student test scores also lag the rest of the state.
The harms are not limited to the short term: Students’ futures as adults are at
stake. That is because higher math achievement and lower dropout rates are
associated with substantial increases in future incomes. Nurturing academics and
graduation rates can close income gaps between low- and middle-income students.
Academic experts agree student outcomes are strongly correlated with their
future job prospects.
Some studies have even suggested that teacher strikes themselves can be
responsible for lower earnings and higher unemployment rates of students in the
future.
This is especially bad news for the city’s minority students. Black and Hispanic
Illinoisans already face higher unemployment rates and lower wages than their
white counterparts. CPS’ student body is 90% minority and 83% low income. The
implications for these students is especially concerning given the wide racial
disparities in the Illinois labor market, where black residents are 2.5 times as
likely to be unemployed and households earn 48% less, and Hispanic residents are
20% more likely to be unemployed and households earn 26% less compared to their
white counterparts.
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CTU’s strike vote comes in the face of an extremely
generous offer from Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot.
Lightfoot’s administration accepted a neutral fact finder’s
recommendation and offered a contract to CTU that includes a 16%
salary increase spread over five years, along with a 1% total
increase in health insurance premiums during the last three of the
five years. The current $79,000 average teacher salary would
increase to almost $100,000 under Lightfoot’s offer, taking into
account the automatic annual “step” increases for seniority.
But CTU rejected the deal crafted by the neutral party they helped
pick. Instead, they plan to walk out on students Oct. 17 over a
lengthy list of demands that includes:
A 15% pay hike across the board during the next three years
Reduced health insurance payments
Hiring over 4,000 new support staff
55 additional community schools
CPS agreement to advocate for policies such as a corporate head tax,
a millionaire tax and rent control
CTU’s demands for extra staffing, community schools and 5% annual
salary increases would alone cost more than $1.1 billion over three
years. Lightfoot’s proposed salary increases and planned additional
staffing would total $216 million over the same period.
Amid the ongoing conversations regarding CTU’s potential third
strike in seven years, it is crucial to recognize the effects
strikes have on students. Minority students in Chicago already face
greater challenges to their futures compared to their white
counterparts, and another CTU strike could unnecessarily make their
lives more difficult.
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