By rssfeeds-admin Invited to the two-hour session that Johnson called frank and open were Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez, Chicago Board of Education President Sean Harden, and Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates. Johnson also extended an invitation to the City Council Budget and Finance Chairs.
He stressed the meeting was not an official bargaining session.
“Today’s focus was getting everybody in the room to work through essentially turns out to be a handful of issues that i don’t think are overly complicated and ones that I think can get done now,” Johnson said.
He added: “It’s going to require both sides to dig in and spend the rest of this evening, tomorrow morning, nonstop to settle these handful of issues because we have to keep our children in the classroom.”
The purpose of the meeting is to bring together the City, the union, the Board and CPS leadership to resolve the remaining issues in collective bargaining and other related financial issues, including figuring out who should pick up the tab to cover a $175 million pension contribution for non-teacher staff.
The mayor wants the district to pay for it, warning that if the city doesn’t get the funds before March 30, it might close its books on 2024 with a deficit.
He recommends the school district take out a loan to cover the cost, but CEO Pedro Martinez, at odds with the mayor and in a legal battle with the Board of Education over his duties, is reluctant.
A report commissioned by the school board found that as many as 10 to 11 district-wide furlough days would be needed to cover the cost of the pension payment.
Ultimately, however, the final decision will be made by the partially elected, partially appointed school board, which meets on Thursday.
Regarding the teacher contract, Martinez stressed he’s ready to strike a deal.
“I am proud of the fact that we are there very close to getting a deal,” he said. “I see no remote possibility of a strike. … We’re just that close.”
The powerful head of the Chicago Teachers Union, Stacy Davis Gates, has a different view. She voiced frustration with Martinez saying he stormed out the meeting early.
“I have never witnessed a display more disrespectful and dismissive and arrogant in my life,” she said. “I have no idea what the CEO is doing right now. I don’t know what his end game is. I don’t know what he wants.”
Johnson said he believes that averting a work stoppage is in the best interest of all Chicagoans and his hope is that he can help find a compromise that is suitable to all parties involved.
In recent weeks, the Chicago Teachers Union has upped its heat on the district having finished the legal process needed to vote to authorize a strike.
No strike vote has been taken and both sides continue working towards a deal. There were no specifics Wednesday on how CPS would pay for the new contract.
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