Education

CPS Leaders See ‘No Reason’ for Possible Strike After Teachers Union Rejects Fact-Finding Report

The Chicago Teachers Union has rejected an independent arbitrator’s recommendations on ways to finalize a new contract with Chicago Public Schools, saying the report doesn’t go far enough in settling its demands.

But CPS leadership said that rejection puts the union one step closer to a possible strike.

“That is the last thing that students and families need,” CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said at a press conference Thursday, “and given how close our teams are to an agreement, we see no reason for such a drastic step.”

Martinez’s comments come after neutral fact-finder Martin Malin issued his recommendations for finalizing a new teacher’s contract. The union’s previous contract expired at the end of June.

While the CTU noted that Malin agreed with several of their arguments — specifically that CPS should increase pay for veteran teachers and hire more librarians — the union formally rejected the report, stating that if it had accepted it, bargaining would essentially come to a close.

The union in its rejection letter said Malin issued no recommendations on “critical issues” including teacher evaluations, the structure of the elementary school day, class sizes and other staffing issues, which must be settled at the negotiating table.

Still, CTU General Counsel Robert Bloch wrote in the rejection letter that the fact-finding report “opened the door for further productive negotiations” with CPS. Union president Stacy Davis Gates added that the report provides “renewed optimism” about reaching a deal with the school district.

“We did get what I have termed unexpected news,” Davis Gates said Thursday. “We have never had a fact-finding report so favorably on issues that impact the classroom directly.”

The union also argued the report found that CPS “has more resources than it admits,” but district officials rejected that claim.

“The assertion that CPS is in the best financial position in its history and it has more resources than it’s admitting to is simply a misrepresentation of the fact-finding report,” CPS Chief Talent Officer Ben Felton said, noting that the district is facing a $750 million budget deficit next year.

Martinez said the report confirms the school district’s “severe financial constraints.”

CPS has offered a 4% cost of living increase for covering the current academic year and 4-5% increases over the next three years of the contract, which officials have said would take the average teacher salary to nearly $100,000, keeping them among the highest paid public school educators in the country.

Malin backed that offer, saying he considered it “inappropriate” for him to recommend a higher cost of living increase. He also repeatedly expressed broad economic concerns going forward, pointing to tariffs proposed by President Donald Trump, which he said are likely to “aggravate the rate of inflation.”

Martinez was terminated by Mayor Brandon Johnson’s handpicked Board of Education in December, but his contract allows him to stay on the job for six months following that decision.

He said the report found that the CTU’s cost of living proposal “exceeds the amount of cash that’s available to cover it.”

He also called the report’s findings an “objective perspective” and reiterated Thursday his belief that the sides are close to an agreement and no work stoppage will be necessary.

“What are our teachers going to strike about?” Martinez said. “There is nothing, nothing to justify a strike.”

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