The teachers union and the board of directors at the Chicago High School for the Arts have reached an agreement on a new four-year contract to avert a threatened strike.
Educators represented by the Chicago Teachers Union had planned to walk out Wednesday after negotiations dragged on for more than a year without much progress. But after the union called off its strike at the last minute due to “major breakthroughs” in negotiations late Tuesday night, the two sides finalized a deal Wednesday.
ChiArts is a privately managed contract school, similar to a charter, that is funded by public and donor dollars. It’s Chicago’s only arts-focused public high school and enrolls 594 students.
The new four-year deal covers all 103 arts and academic teachers at the school and guarantees the hiring of a full-time social worker by next year, a better student-to-counselor ratio, a full-time nursing assistant, more robust special education and bilingual supports and more time for teachers to prepare for classes. The union also reported “a considerable increase in educator salaries and benefits.”
“Getting to this historic agreement wasn’t easy, but when we started this process we knew what we were fighting for,” science teacher Jennifer Peppers said in a statement. “Through this agreement, our classroom can become a place for students to learn, aspire, dream and achieve.”
Duffie Adelson, the interim board chair at ChiArts, said the school was “very pleased to be able to offer meaningful improvements in salaries and benefits to our dedicated teachers.”
“ChiArts is a unique and vital school community, and we look forward to continuing to work together on behalf of our students and families,” Adelson said in a statement Wednesday.
Teachers and staff at the Humboldt Park neighborhood school on the West Side have worked without a contract for more than a year. On the brink of walking out, the CTU reported late Tuesday night that key differences were resolved over pay and benefits, social worker and nursing staffing and teacher prep time. The union suspended its planned Wednesday strike but said it could be resumed Thursday if a deal couldn’t be finalized.
The two sides met all day Wednesday and struck an agreement.
The CTU said teachers will have a few days to review the deal and take a ratification vote.
The agreement also includes diversity and inclusion training for school staff, a commitment to make ChiArts a sanctuary school and protections for LGBTQIA students and staff.
Last week, the board said it had made compensation offers “that would significantly raise all teachers’ pay immediately and in future years,” and said it “soundly rejects recent charges made by the Chicago Teachers Union regarding the status of ongoing contract negotiations.”
Teachers rallied at the school last week, calling on the school’s board to “put their money where their mouth is.”
“All students deserve a safe, supportive, sustainable school, and we are not going to back down from this fight,” said Megan Pietz, an English teacher and member of the union’s bargaining team.
ChiArts teachers went on strike in 2019 but reached a tentative agreement the same evening. They were among staff at four Chicago charter and contract schools that walked out against different operators at the same time.
