"1. Chicago public school teachers are already well
compensated. By CTU’s own figures an average teacher earns a salary of
$71,000 (CPS reports the number is $76,000 without benefits). Even if we
only compare CPS teachers to others with college degrees, they still do
well. According to the US Census American Community Survey, the median
annual wage for persons with a college degree is $48,866 in Chicago. CPS
teachers earn nearly half again as much as an average worker in Chicago
with a college degree.

Note: Average teacher pay at Urban Prep Academy, the Chicago charter
school that has sent 100% of its graduates to college for the third
consecutive year is $47,714.
Note: CTU walked away from a $400 million package that include a 16 percent raise.


Note: CPS is currently offering a 16% pay increase.


Dispelling longer school day myth: Under the interim agreement,
teachers will continue to work roughly the same hours they do now.
Instead of requiring teachers to work a 20 percent longer day, the Chicago Public Schools have agreed to hire more teachers to fill the extra instruction time with such classes as art, music and physical education.
2. Four out of every ten kids who start freshman year at a public
high school in Chicago do not graduate. While poverty and crime
certainly complicate instruction, this is not a system where anyone,
including the administration, teachers or the union, can rest on their
laurels.
3. Chicago public schools expect to drain their cash reserves in the
upcoming year and are likely facing another shortfall of as large as $1
billion the year after that. It is doubtful that the district can afford
across-the-board pay raises.
Note: CPS had to return a $35 million federal grant
— Teacher Incentive Fund — because CTU refused to implement merit pay.
CTU called CPS’ acceptance of the grant a “fraudulent action.”
4. Chicago receives almost $2 billion in funding from the state tax
funds. That means almost 35 percent of Chicago’s total funding for
education comes from state taxpayer funds. The entire state, not just
Chicago, is paying for the failures of CPS and CTU.
5. CPS has the shortest school days and year in the nation when compared to the ten largest cities in the nation."