Chicago Teachers Union demands $50B in salary hikes, free abortions and more

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has issued a 142-page list of demands to Chicago Public Schools (CPS) that includes unconventional items ranging from free abortions to free public transportation for students and teachers.

Negotiations between the CTU and CPS are ongoing, with the current contract set to expire on June 30.

The CTU’s proposed contract carries a hefty price tag at an estimated $50 billion. Though 9% wage increases annually partially account for the large total, other pricey provisions include a full coverage benefit for abortions, as well as full coverage for fertility-related costs such as storing frozen human embryos.

Stakeholders have expressed alarm at both the estimated cost and content of the CTU’s requests. One section of the revised contract, for example, would see teachers permitted to take a full year of leave from CPS to work for CTU’s non-profit, the CTU Foundation, or to hold a public office. 

“The clear implication of such leave is elected leaders – such as Mayor Brandon Johnson – who are bankrolled by the union into office can then appoint union friends to office without those friends having to permanently step away from their CPS jobs,” wrote Mailee Smith, senior director of labor policy and staff attorney with the Illinois Policy Institute. 

“In the meantime, those friends can continue to accrue teacher pension credit while working other jobs.” 

Other demands from the CTU fall far outside the anticipated scope of a union contract. CTU is stipulating that the city convert unused school floors into dormitories for homeless students; likewise, the union demands that certain schools be used as shelters for homeless families more broadly. 

The union also wants funds directed towards migrant students, including $2,000 per migrant student to cover expenses related to schooling, transportation, and mental health services. The current number of migrant students attending Chicago public schools is unclear, but estimates range from 9,000 to 17,000. 

“These demands and many others fall outside typical contract negotiations and show the union’s priority isn’t doing what’s best for students. It’s all about advancing its own progressive social agenda,” summarized Smith. 

While the city of Chicago focuses on renegotiating its contract with the CTU, Chicago students face a school environment with a 26% increase in violent crime from the previous year, coupled with record low arrests. Notably, in 2023, the CTU succeeded in pressuring the city to remove the final few police officers remaining in its public schools.