“4 in 10 Chicago Public Schools teachers were ‘chronically absent’ last year from a job with a median salary of $95,000”
By any measure, Chicago Public Schools teachers are extraordinarily well paid given the norms of their profession.
The median salary for a CPS teacher is nearly $95,000. That’s 21% more than teachers make in Cook County’s suburbs, where median pay is $78,000. What’s more, CPS says it pays its teachers more than any other large school district in the nation, and that’s before whatever increases they get in union contract negotiations that are ongoing.
The Chicago Teachers Union continues to demand 9% annual raises, an outlandish ask, and is growing ever more shrill as CPS CEO Pedro Martinez and his administration try to hold the line on behalf of Chicago’s beleaguered taxpayers and in the face of heavy pressure from Mayor Brandon Johnson to give CTU everything it wants. The impasse is headed next month for a neutral fact-finder, who will hear both sides out and produce a report in January.
These are the first steps toward a potential teachers strike, which could occur as soon as February.
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Chicago teachers get 78 days off and yet 41% are deemed chronically absent for missing 10+ days of work. With median pay of $95k (2nd highest in country), demands for 9% annual raises, and lousy outcomes, even the Chicago Tribune editorial board is fed up.
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Meanwhile, Milwaukee:
“Maybe it has to broken apart. Maybe we have to have somebody take it over. Maybe we have to do something dramatically different, because what they’re doing now certainly doesn’t seem to be working.” – Speaker Robin Vos on Milwaukee Public Schools (MPS)
