Teachers Union Mulls Another Strike After CPS Warns of 'Drastic' Cuts

By aaroncynic in News on Nov 3, 2015 3:50PM

The Chicago Teacher’s Union could be gearing up for another strike after Chicago Public Schools CEO Forrest Claypool said that schools could see “drastic” cuts and layoffs next year if the state can’t help out CPS.

In an op-ed published by the Tribune on Monday, Claypool wrote:

“There will be fewer teachers. There will be larger class sizes. And the educational gains that our principals, teachers and students have worked so hard for will be jeopardized.”

The CPS CEO said the system has a $480 million budget gap to resolve by its second semester, and that “discriminatory funding” is at the core of its budget deficit. “Over the last five years, state funding for CPS has declined while state funding for other districts in Illinois, including contributions to the state teachers retirement system, has soared,” wrote Claypool.

In September, Claypool warned that some 5,000 jobs could be cut from the school system due to the budget impasse.

Claypool’s remarks elicited a swift reaction from the CTU. The Sun-Times reports President Karen Lewis told teachers to hunker down and prepare for a lengthy strike and that they should start saving 25 percent of their paychecks:

“With the uncertainty in Springfield, the continued chaos at the Board of Education and the constant threats to our classrooms, we have to be prepared. Our families will depend on us being able to weather what could be a protracted strike.”

The CTU contract expired June 30 and a mediator is already involved in talks, according to the Tribune.

Meanwhile, Gov. Bruce Rauner took the opportunity to blame Democratic lawmakers for the budget deadlock and blamed CPS for its own problems. “"Chicago Public Schools has been running unbalanced budgets for decades. This is not a recent problem and this is not a problem created by the state," said Rauner.

Chicago Teacher’s Union Vice President Jesse Sharkey however, said that Rauner’s agenda amounts to a “corporate takeover,” telling NBC5:

“If the governor of this state thinks this is going to be another corporate takeover, and he's going to shut down our schools in order to gain a political win, he needs to think that this is a game in which we get to move, too. This is not going to be a shutdown. This is going to be a showdown.”

The CTU is set to take a "practice vote" for a potential strike on Thursday.