CPS to Hold Some Class Sizes to 28
The Chicago Board of Education was paying attention when the CTU House of Delegates voted “no” to concessions at the August 11th special meeting. The Board did not mention concessions once during yesterday’s bargaining session with CTU’s 40-member negotiating team. The Board’s lawyers said they would cap some high school class sizes at 28 – mainly core classes such as English, math, science and social studies -- but only for the regular track schools that start September 7th. 300-400 teachers might be rehired.
“It’s a small step in the right direction, but when dealing with the Board’s lawyers, the devil’s always in the details. One major detail overlooked by their lawyers is that Chicago Public Schools received $100 million from the federal government to rehire at minimum 1,000 laid-off teachers. This doesn’t come close,” said Karen Lewis, President of the Chicago Teachers Union.
“The Board needs to get to work. They’ve made a mess and they’re going to have to clean it up. Hiring back all of our members who were wrongfully terminated is not a matter of if, or who, but when,” said Lewis, who added that, “I hope the Board realizes that parents and students will not quietly tolerate one substitute, one placeholder, or one new hire this school year,” said Lewis.
