Last month, Chicago Public Schools (CPS) teachers returned to work after a two week strike. The deal that ended the strike entailed the city acquiescing to virtually every union demand — from higher teacher pay to smaller class sizes to hundreds of new nurses, social workers, and librarians. This was also a deal that took CPS's grim fiscal situation and made it worse.
For teachers, the deal is remarkable. It will boost Chicago teacher compensation — already among the highest in the nation — 16 percent higher over five years, raising average teacher salaries to nearly $100,000. (By contrast, the median Chicago household earns $52,000.) Teachers will now be permitted to bank an incredible 244 sick days (up from 40) and claim full pension credit for those days upon retirement, creating new demands on a teetering pension system. And the deal keeps teachers' retirement contribution at just two percent of annual salary while slashing health care copays.
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