CPS To Borrow $800M, Boost Teacher Pay By 4%

By Anna Deem in News on Jun 13, 2010 6:30PM

On Friday, Chicago Public Schools officials revealed their plan to borrow up to $800 million to pay their bills, in addition to promising teachers a 4 percent pay increase. Officials have scheduled a special School Board meeting on Tuesday to discuss the borrowing, teacher raises, and a new plan to expand class size for the first time since 1995.

One item the meeting will touch on is whether or not CPS will be able to balance its budget, unless they increase class size from 30 students to "up to 35," on average. As a result of this resolution, about 2,700 teachers would be laid off, which would be a savings of $125 million. If the School Board members do not pass a resolution by June 15, strike talk might start again among teacher union members

"We can't risk the uncertainty of putting our kids in a situation where they may not be able to go back to school because there's a strike," a CPS official said to the Chicago Sun-Times. "You take that off the table by saying, 'We're going to fund the 4 percent [raise].'"