Both teachers and students in Chicago’s public school system returned for the start of the new school year yesterday, but the threat of a teachers’ strike still looms. The Chicago Teachers Union and the Chicago Public School System has been without a contract for over one year and the union is considering striking in October if negotiations continue to not progress. The main area of controversy is the 7% pension pick up that the district hopes to remove from the teachers’ contracts. The pension provision has been in place since 1981 and requires the school system to pay 7% of the 9% of salaries teachers must contribute to their pension. Additionally, the CPS’s budget currently relies on $215 of new state funding, which is not guaranteed. The CTU will be meeting tonight and could potentially set a formal strike deadline.
See "Potential Teachers’ Strike Looms Over Start Of Classes for CPS", CBS Chicago, September 7, 2016