The Chicago Teachers Union is threatening to sue the Chicago Board of Education over budget plans proposed by outgoing schools chief Pedro Martinez that it says constitute unfair labor practices and violations of the recently ratified contract.
CTU President Stacy Davis Gates sent a letter to the school board Tuesday, characterizing Martinez and his team’s proposals to balance the Chicago Public Schools’ 2026 fiscal budget as “attempts at vindictive sabotage.”
The new fiscal year begins July 1. The union settled a new $1.5 billion four-year contract in late April, following a year of negotiations. CPS has said there is enough money to cover the first year of the contract, but has not detailed plans for the other three.
In recent weeks, CPS suggested delaying the proposals outlined in the new union contract to balance the budget for next year, given challenging financial circumstances, according to the CTU letter.
Those delayed proposals would affect agreements around class size and staffing levels, the letter states, affecting English language learners and students with disabilities.
“To be clear, the district does not have the option of delaying investments it is contractually obligated to make under our (collective bargaining agreement), for FY26 or any other year of the agreement,” Davis Gates writes in the letter.
Facing a $529 million budget deficit for fiscal year 2026, district officials pushed back. They indicated in a statement to the Tribune that they may need to review new proposals under various labor agreements to ensure long-term sustainability. Salary increases, they assured, are already in motion and included in the budget.
“If any changes to the collective bargaining agreement are needed, the District will work in partnership with our labor partners to identify solutions together,” the statement reads.
The proposals in the new teachers contract include increased salaries for veteran teachers, more librarians and nurses, and mandates around class sizes, among hundreds of other asks.
In the letter, Davis Gates writes that “the terminated CEO is recommending the school district expose itself to massive legal liability by breaking these contractual promises.” She adds that the district’s proposed cuts could trigger “state investigations, monitorship and costly compensatory services.”
Ultimately, she strongly urges board members to reject Martinez’s plan.
Typically, when a dispute arises regarding the interpretation or enforcement of any of the proposals in a teachers contract, CTU initiates a grievance process that may be submitted to arbitration, where an impartial arbitrator makes a binding decision.
But if any party believes that the contract has been violated in a manner not addressable through arbitration, they may seek legal action.
Facing a $529 million budget deficit for fiscal year 2026, CPS had planned for months on how to make cuts in a way that minimizes the impact on schools. At a school board meeting last week, Martinez publicly stated that the district would attempt to make cuts at the administrative level to avoid affecting schools as much as possible.
The school district released its school-level budgets May 15, which are based on $300 million in new revenue. That still leaves $229 million in debt, and the necessity for some cuts, CPS said in its Wednesday statement.
“The proposed reductions — totaling up to 15% of CPS’ budgets for more than 40 departments — aim to protect school funding and critical investments in District programming and operations,” the statement reads.
Davis Gates, a close ally of Mayor Brandon Johnson, repeatedly attacked Martinez for his handling of contract negotiations. She nodded to that in Tuesday’s letter, saying that his “unfamiliarity with how contract negotiations work resulted in months of avoidable confusion, tension, and turmoil, delaying the settlement of our contract.”
In the letter, she said that Martinez has gone on to brag about the accomplishments of the contract. Those are the very same measures — she said — that he is seeking to cut.
Martinez is leaving the district June 18 after a long, drawn-out battle with Johnson and the union over district finances.