Black Voices

CTU President Stacy Davis Gates On ‘Historic’ Contract Ratification, Future of Chicago Public Schools


After nearly a year of bargaining, the Chicago Teachers Union is one step closer to finalizing a deal with Chicago Public Schools: 85% of CTU’s 30,000 members voted last week on a tentative contract agreement, with 97% of voters approving it.

The contract now needs approval from the Chicago Board of Education, which is set to vote on it next Thursday.

“We voted on everything,” CTU President Stacy Davis Gates said in a news conference Monday. “People got an opportunity to touch it, feel it, see it. Last Thursday and Friday, they voted in overwhelming historic levels to ratify this TA (tentative agreement) to a contract.”

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Davis Gates sat down with WTTW News’ “Chicago Tonight: Black Voices” to break down what’s in the contract and how it impacts students and teachers.

On the tentative agreement’s ratification:

The contract raises teacher salaries by 4-5% each year, enforces smaller class sizes, gives 10 extra minutes in daily prep time for elementary school teachers, doubles bilingual education staff and provides 90 new librarian positions, among other things.

Davis Gates called the contract’s ratification “a turning point.”

“Elementary school kids get 30 minutes of recess,” Davis Gates said. “We put millions more dollars in the sports program. They’ll have transportation, equipment and uniforms. Sports that girls play will have parity with boys’ sports. We’re gonna give kids more than what they’ve gotten before.”

On the difficult road to a deal:

This is the first CTU contract deal reached in 15 years without a strike vote. But the negotiations were still contentious with CPS CEO Pedro Martinez’s firing and members of the Board of Education resigning.

“I think there were a lot of impediments,” Davis Gates said. “Obviously, the much reported push and pull of politics. But we also are doing new things in Chicago. We have a School Board that is partially elected. They have a bigger stake in how we land these deals. So having people like the board president, Sean Harden, members like Jitu Brown and Karen Zaccor — people who have an understanding of the granular level of the movement and the school district — that helped us.

“But also it was the first time in 30 years that our union was able to bargain a contract with full bargaining rights. So both sides needed to exercise a muscle where we exchanged ideas across the table. The district had to learn that; the union had to learn that. We got there, and I’m proud of it because this is an agreement that both sides can be proud of.”

On the district’s budget issues:

The deal is estimated to cost $1.5 billion, according to CPS officials. Martinez has said the district has the money to afford the first year of the contract, but CPS often faces budget uncertainties every year and it’s unclear how the district will pay for the contract in later years.

“Pedro (Martinez) has said very clearly that he would not be an irresponsible party in this collective bargaining situation,” Davis Gates said. “He wrote op-eds about it, in fact. So we’re confident that the district is in a better financial position. In fact, the third party arbitrator who provided the fact-finding report said that the district was in a better position to fund this contract than they ever have been in years past. So those two things coupled together give us a lot of certainty.

“Also, the state of Illinois has to do more. We have one of the best funding formulas in the state, and it needs revenue. That’s not just Chicago. That’s every school district across Illinois. So while the Trump administration has its crosshairs on Chicago, he also has it on Illinois. It’s going to behoove us in this moment to find out what coalition alliance and solidarity looks like. It’s also gonna ask those who have more to pay more so we can secure what we have and in the city of Chicago to be a beacon in the world that’s moving far too fast towards something very different.”

On providing protections against the Trump administration:

The contract comes at a time when public education continues to face challenges at the federal level, with firings of U.S. Department of Education staff. Chicago Public Schools is also facing national scrutiny from the Trump administration, specifically for its diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, policies.

The ratified contract also enforces academic freedom protections for teachers, allowing them to meet the Illinois Learning Standards for Black history, women’s history, antiracism and more.

Davis Gates referenced challenges CPS faced from past educational policies. She said the new contract builds a forcefield around the district from further targeting at the federal level.

“If we’re looking at the federal level of the government right now, you have Elon Musk and Donald Trump wreaking havoc on federal institutions with DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency),” said Davis Gates. “We had that in Chicago already. It was called Renaissance 2010 with Arne Duncan. It was called School Reconstitution with Paul Vallas. It was called 50 school closings with Rahm Emanuel. We’re marking a different standard of where we’re gonna give kids opportunity.”

On criticism about the contract:

Davis Gates faces some criticism from some who say the union should have pushed for more protections. A group of CTU members called the REAL Caucus called the union fractured.

“Many of us who voted to accept the contract were tired of the wait and lacked hope that our leadership had the tenacity to win more,” the caucus said in a statement. “There are wins here, but this is not transformative. We need CTU leadership with the integrity to be honest about the work that still needs to be done.”

Davis Gates said: “85% of our members participated in our democracy, and 97% of those members say yes to the contract. That is a ridiculously high number, unprecedented, in fact. Sixty-five of our rank-and-file members bargained this contract. Every single governing body of our union approves of this contract. I think our democracy is one that should be modeled in most institutions.”


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