CTU President Stacy Davis Gates on Contract Negotiations, Future of Chicago Public Schools


After months of negotiations, the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools still have not reached a contract deal.

Meanwhile, the CPS Board of Education’s publicly elected members will be sworn in Wednesday, and the district will be on the search for a new leader since the current board fired CEO Pedro Martinez just before the holidays.

CTU President Stacy Davis Gates sat down with WTTW News’ “Chicago Tonight” to talk about the future of the district’s public education system.

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On Contract Negotiations With CPS:

Contract negotiations between CTU and CPS are still on pause. Part of what the union is asking for is 5% raises annually for the first two years of the contract, and 4% to 5% increases for the third and fourth years of the contract. The district said it’s offering 4% because that’s all it can afford.

CTU is also asking for fine arts programs, libraries and librarians, and 20 minutes of prep time for teachers, among other things.

Davis Gates characterized negotiations so far as abysmal.

“We were doing good work,” Davis Gates said, “successful movement back and forth before the CEO received his temporary restraining order and that slowed progress significantly — almost to a halt. We had members at the table today who provided their level of frustration with many of the things that we’re pushing for.

We want things in place before No. 47 is inaugurated. Title 9 was struck down last week. We have real concerns about our queer and transgender students here in the city. Ray Lopez has introduced legislation that would make Chicago a co-conspirator in deporting our students and their families. We don’t know what that looks like in a school community. These are things that we have to settle at the table to codify and build a forcefield around our school district.

The district is still living from a very marginal perspective of how we offer the best type of public education for all of our students here in this city. A contract is over, a multi-year plan, and what we are trying to do is do what we did in 2019. In 2019, we implemented a plan that put nurses and social workers in our school, that put restorative justice coordinators, that gave more to the students when they returned from COVID. And when they returned from COVID, they had the staffing, the support and the resources that they needed to overcome a lot of the deficits that many other districts are dealing with. That is what we are trying to do here — build off of those gains and create an unmovable infrastructure.

However, only 12 of our high schools have school libraries, and to be very frank with you, the way in which the district evaluates its teachers, puts Black teachers or teachers who teach at a majority-Black school in peril, their ratings are a lot lower. This is not our data or research. This data was commissioned by the Illinois General Assembly. This data comes from a study at the University of Chicago. We are trying to work with the district to replenish the number of Black teachers that were fired. We used to have almost 50% Black teachers in the city of Chicago. Now we’re hovering just under 19%.”

On the Financial State of the District:

At a news conference Monday, Martinez told reporters there is no surplus of money and that the district is, in fact, cash-strapped following the dissolution of COVID-19 funding. He said: “First of all, $1.1 billion in reserves. That notion is flat-out not true. It is based on a snapshot in time, not fully accounting for revenues and expenses in the fiscal year. The reality is we have $66 million of cash on hand, and that’s three days of operating revenue. If we had $1.1 billion in reserve sitting in the bank, we would not be taking out a loan, over a billion dollars in tax anticipation loans, to make payroll while we’re waiting for property taxes to come in. There is no mythical pot of gold.”

Similarly, the Civic Federation released its latest analysis on Chicago Public Schools’ “troubling financial landscape.” In a statement the federation wrote: “The existing FY2025 CPS budget is structurally imbalanced, heavily relying on temporary revenues and lacking provisions for impending collective bargaining costs. These financial strains, coupled with long-term issues such as declining enrollment, rising expenditures, pension liabilities, and looming credit downgrades, demand immediate and strategic action. To stabilize CPS, the Board must implement a forward-looking financial plan, addressing budget deficits with cost-saving measures, operational efficiencies, sustainable revenue sources, and advocacy for increased state support.”

In response to Martinez and the Civic Federation, Davis Gates said: “In the first bucket, I will say that everything that is at the table that needs settling right now, the real issues are non-economic. So, those two press conferences are moot when it comes to settling this contract. The settlement of this contract will be about the non-economic issues that empower our educators, protect our freedoms and make sure that our students get their supports. Those are non-economic. Now, to the press conference and the Civic Federation. The Civic Federation, for years, has argued for the closing of Black schools. They’ve argued for underpaying women. They’ve argued for stealing people’s retirement security. So, this makes sense for them to say. This is what they always say. No. 2, Pedro’s assessment of the finances of the Chicago Public Schools without our contract is dire. No one can argue facts.

But here’s the question that I think we need to ask ourselves as Chicagoans — the Chicago Public Schools needs leadership that is going to be visionary enough to sustain it for the long term. This contract is a snapshot in time. The sustenance and the sustainability of this school district is something else. So he has to do a few things. No. 1: He has to leverage the fact that he just received the largest TIF surplus ever in the history of this city. No. 2: By 2031, that TIF will be nearly a billion dollars. He has to count those things. Here’s the other thing that he needs to do: He needs to figure out how to get a reimbursement for Medicaid so he can pay for the social workers we need for our students. Then here’s the next thing, he needs to be very clear about advocating for both progressive revenue and for the Illinois General Assembly and the governor of this state to fund our schools.”

On Making Disparaging Comments About Martinez:

WBEZ reported that Davis Gates last week compared the CPS CEO to a special education student who couldn’t be suspended. This was said on stage at an event filled with hundreds of elected officials and other stakeholders. After walking off stage and talking with CTU Vice President Jackson Potter, Davis Gates walked back on stage to apologize.

When asked about the insult, Davis Gates said: “First off, I am extraordinarily embarrassed. It does not reflect my values or my body of work. I am deeply sorry for it, and I am going to be in the process of speaking to the advocates, families, students and our members about how to repair the harm. I am absolutely open to that. Further, our union is going to redouble its efforts to make sure that the Chicago Public Schools actually supports the special education students that we do have, because we do have a track record in that work.”

Nonprofit disability advocacy agency Equip for Equality released a statement condemning Davis Gates’ words, saying, “Language that mocks, belittles, or treats students who are in special education as a punchline is unacceptable and counterproductive to fostering an inclusive educational environment. While we acknowledge Ms. Davis Gates’ subsequent apology, this incident serves as a reminder of the importance of thoughtful and respectful communication.”


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