A leaked contract proposal from the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has revealed ambitious demands totaling $50 billion in new spending as the current contract approaches expiration in June.
The Post Millennial (TPM) reported that the demands encompass various areas including wage increases, homeless student housing, housing for illegal immigrant students and housing assistance for union members.
The 142-page document, obtained by the Illinois Policy think tank in March, outlines the comprehensive list of demands.
TPM highlighted that one of the demands includes the call for the mitigation of an evaluation program known as REACH.
CTU contends that REACH was instigated by right-wing influences nationwide, propagating the unfounded notion that teachers shoulder the blame for all educational shortcomings.
Illinois Policy outlined that the current negotiations include a demand for “$2,000 per student for asylum seekers” and “$2,000 for each newcomer student,” as well as coverage for “Bariatric surgery and weight-loss drugs.”
CTU is also pushing for “100% coverage of infertility and abortion,” encompassing procedures such as the removal and storage of embryos.
Another request is for “surrogacy leave,” allowing faculty involved in surrogacy arrangements to take time off.
CTU calls for “a day of civic action to assist students who are of age to register to vote and cast votes” in its leaked proposal, aiming to facilitate both union and student activism.
The union is additionally seeking “LGBTQ+ safe schools,” which involves withholding information from parents, per TPM, asserting that teachers must keep students’ gender identity confidential from their families.
It insists on incorporating “queer competency” into the new contract, along with ESG pension investments also.
Fox News reports that the average salary for a Chicago Public School Teacher stands at $93,182, with a proposed hike aiming to escalate it to $144,620, a figure doubling the median household income in the City.
CTU President Stacy Davis Gates asserted in a recent address delving into the proposal, “We are asking you to give us an opportunity to tell our story,” emphasizing, “It will cost $50 billion and three cents. Yes it will, and so what, that’s audacity.”
The Chicago Tribune reported that Gates said, “We are asking for substantial amounts of investment into our school community,” during another public discourse.
Gates, commenting on the leaked proposal, emphasized, “I want that money to put the 20,000 homeless students, which are almost 80 percent black, to actually be put in schools.”
She then added, “There’s financial assistance for city workers who fight fires and who are in public safety. We would want something very similar.”
Senior Director of Labor Policy at the Illinois Policy Institute Mailee Smith criticized the demands from CTU, stating, “These demands read more like a political agenda than a serious contract intent on supporting teachers’ wages and benefits, and promoting the education of Chicago students.”
Smith further opined, “These demands are far outside the scope of traditional bargaining, putting taxpayer dollars on the line in pursuit of more union power and social activism.”
She expressed concern, adding, “We are in the process of calculating the cost of these demands, but we can already tell that funding them will require a sweeping overhaul of finances and new revenues,” underscoring the potential consequence, “meaning more and higher taxes for residents. Chicagoans deserve to be represented by a neutral party who is looking out for their finances.”
The post Chicago Teachers Union Demands Additional $50B In Leaked Contract, Including Housing For Illegal Immigrant Students, Abortions appeared first on Resist the Mainstream.
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Author: Jordyn M.
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