CHICAGO _ The Chicago Teachers Union has called in its House of Delegates to vote on a tentative contract _ but says the deal hinges on Mayor Lori Lightfoot agreeing to allow lost school days to be made up. As of late Wednesday, sources said Lightfoot would not agree to added makeup days.
The tentative agreement under consideration by union delegates is a five-year deal, according to a copy obtained by The Chicago Tribune. That's noteworthy because the union has been clear it wants a three-year deal, and this has been one of the main obstacles to an end to the strike in recent days.
The proposed agreement also includes additional teacher-directed prep time for kindergarten teachers during certain times of the school year. Paid prep time has been another key issue for the union and one that Lightfoot's camp has just as firmly resisted before.
The proposed contract also sets forth several provisions related to immigration.
For one, it requires that CPS buildings and property be declared immigration sanctuary spaces for all students, parents and community members who are on school grounds for school-related business.
The agreement would also provide the development of a training program to help staff "appropriately respond" to agents from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement should they seek to enter a school.
Additionally, school personnel would be prohibited from inquiring about a student's or family member's immigration status. The Board of Education would also be barred from collecting information regarding the immigration status of any CPS student or their families.
Under the terms of the contract, if approved, the Board of Education would allocate up to $200,000 per school year to assist CPS employees in planning for and navigating immigration issues. The agreement would also grant employees up to 10 unpaid working days "to attend to immigration or citizenship status matters."
The delegates have assembled and will vote on the current contract. A separate vote to suspend the strike is also possible.
The makeup of school days called off by the strike _ which now stands at 10 _ emerged as a make-or-break issue Wednesday afternoon.
Union Vice President Stacy Davis Gates tweeted that the union "may have reached a monumental agreement and want to convene our (House of Delegates) to suspend the strike.
That sounded promising, but then she immediately followed up with another tweet: "However, our mayor has informed us that she will not make up student instructional time due to the strike."
Davis Gates also said: "Why is the mayor taking out her anger over the strike on #CPS students by reducing instructional time?"
Lightfoot has said the days won't be made up, but the district might be required by state law to add days, since a minimum of 180 instructional days is legally mandated. Not all 10 days would be legally required to be made up, though.
It's unclear how Lightfoot and CPS will respond on making up school days. Lightfoot has repeatedly said the school district would not make up school days lost to the strike.
Last week, Lightfoot was emphatically against the idea, saying: "I've been very clear from the beginning: We are not extending the school year. I typically don't say things in public that I don't mean."
Both sides have now accused the other of backing a loss of instructional time. Another late sticking issue has been to paid prep time for teachers, which Lightfoot has said she would not support because of its effect on classroom time. It's unclear if that issue has been resolved in the pending contract.
