Chicago Teachers Union contract bumps average teacher from $86K to over $114K
The average Chicago Public Schools teacher will see their salary increase to more than $114,000 by the 2027-2028 school year. Just the raises will cost Chicagoans up to $1.25 billion.
The Chicago Teacher’s Union has reached a contract agreement with Chicago Public Schools that will increase teacher salaries from $1.1 billion to $1.25 billion by the 2027-2028 school year.
The average teacher currently earns $86,439. That salary will jump by nearly one-third to $114,429 by the end of the upcoming contract – a nearly $28,000 raise in four years.
CTU’s House of Delegates approved the union’s tentative contract with Chicago Public Schools on April 2. All union members now vote until April 11 before a final approval by the CPS board.
The contract is estimated to add an additional $1.5 billion to district expenses over four years. The previous contract cost that much over five years. The vast majority of the new cost is teacher pay raises, with expenses on current teacher salaries expected to grow at least $1.1 billion and up to $1.25 billion, depending on future inflation rates.
The contract gives cost-of-living adjustments of 4% to teacher salaries in 2025. For each year after, the adjustment will be a minimum of 4% but could go as high as 5%, depending on future inflation rates.
This salary increase isn’t thanks solely to upcoming cost-of-living adjustments. Teachers also see annual pay raises based on seniority, which include increases in base salary and “step increases” in their pay – an additional amount that is also negotiated in the CTU contract. In the new contract, CTU negotiated the elimination of multi-year steps, effectively granting teachers an additional seven years of extra pay bumps throughout their careers on top of their annual raises.
The effect of these additional raises beyond the cost-of-living adjustments are significant. During the upcoming contract, the average teacher will see their current salary increase by $27,990. Of that, $15,379 will be thanks to cost-of-living adjustments, while the other $12,611 will be because of step increases and seniority.
Teacher salaries have historically been one of the largest cost drivers of spending in the CPS budget. The increase in spending has not translated into better outcomes for students. Since 2012, spending has increased by 97%, but student proficiency in reading has declined by 63% and by 78% in math for grades 3-8.
Today, only 26% of third through eighth graders are proficient in reading. Less than 18% are proficient in math.
As student outcomes deteriorate and spending dramatically increases because of rising salaries and benefits, enrollment within CPS continues to decline. The militant bargaining tactics used too often by CTU leaders to get their demands met have not been in the best interests of CPS students and families – or taxpayers.
CTU has gone on strike twice – both during contract negotiations – and walked out on students three times since the current union leadership took over in 2010. In 2022, the union illegally walked out on students over COVID-19 protocols, giving parents just hours to scramble for a back-up plan after the union decided not to show up for in-person classes.
Now, nearly a year after contract negotiations first started and having bankrolled former CTU employee Brandon Johnson’s mayoral campaign, the CTU has agreed on another contract with significant costs for taxpayers. Perhaps most concerning is that Johnson does not yet have a plan to pay for the new contract. This likely means larger property tax hikes, borrowing funds, dipping into city reserves, or some combination of these options, all of which are bad for taxpayers.