Chicago Public Schools officials blatantly mischaracterized—to teachers and the public—what principals want the district to negotiate in the new teacher contract, according to a report released by the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association, AFSA Local 2.
The report—which was sent to both the district and to the Chicago Teachers Union—asserts that CPS CEO Janice Jackson made false or misleading statements to the Chicago Sun-Times about principals being on the bargaining team in order to lend credibility to the district’s demand that the Chicago Teachers Union agree to convert two weekly teacher-directed preparation periods into principal-directed periods. Jackson herself claimed principals were on the bargaining team to add “gravitas” to the district’s contract demands. However, nearly 70% of principals oppose that element of the district’s contract proposal. The report also illustrated that principals overwhelmingly support CTU's demand for 30-minute morning preparation periods. The report excoriated the district’s continued failure to include principal representatives in the negotiations. CPAA President Troy LaRaviere wrote in an email to the district, "In May, Mayor Lightfoot gave her word that principals from CPAA would be at the table when determining CPS policy. Currently, we are not, and the district’s current ill-advised path at the bargaining table is the kind of thing that happens when our members are excluded from that table. Without the voice of school leaders in helping create policies to educate our children, we are undermining our ability to develop academic environments that support success." CPAA’s report also includes the results of a new survey of principals providing their thoughts and opinions on some of the key issues at stake at the CPS/CTU bargaining table. A look at the findings include:
A supermajority (68%) of principals and assistant principals are opposed to the district’s proposal to reduce teacher-directed preparation time and increase principal-directed preparation time.
School leaders who support the proposal have important concerns that could be addressed by adopting other policies that a majority of both teachers and principals support, or through more targeted strategies.
92% of school leaders want 30-minute morning teacher preparation time restored (97% either support or are unopposed to the restoration of morning preps). This is also a CTU demand, which makes in an area of agreement between principals and teachers.
93% want full-day professional development opportunities for their teachers and 74% want four to eight full teacher PD days per year.
Access the Full Report Here
