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The Chicago Teachers Union is calling for a systemwide audit of Chicago Public Schools’ payroll processes after reporting Tuesday that multiple union members are being underpaid this school year.
The union filed a grievance over the issue with CPS Tuesday, amid heated negotiations between CTU and CPS over the union’s new contract.
The grievance claims at least five unnamed staffers have not been paid according to their seniority with the district. In all five cases, the union alleges, employees have reached out to the district for help in correcting the issue, but CPS has not fixed their pay.
The examples include:
- A school counseling office assistant, who has worked for a consecutive 19 years with CPS, should be paid at three levels higher than she is currently and should also receive more sick days, based on her seniority, the grievance said. The union estimates this employee is being underpaid by at least $8,000. She hasn’t heard back from the district since October, the grievance said.
- An elementary school teacher should be paid $101,593 based on his seniority but his listed salary is $99,005, the grievance said. He has not heard from the district since reaching out in September.
- A second elementary school teacher is being paid about $2,000 less than she should be, the grievance said. She reached out to CPS in September.
- A high school teacher is in her 22nd year teaching for CPS but is being paid at a lower level. She reached out for help in September.
- An elementary school counselor who earned her master’s degree should be placed at a higher salary level because of her additional degree, the grievance said. However, despite providing “relevant documentation” and sending multiple follow-up emails, she has not yet received a “substantive response,” according to the district.
Ben Felton, chief of talent for CPS, said the school district has run into “minor payroll mishaps” in the past, but he doesn’t have “any reason” to believe it’s a widespread issue.
“In a system of more than 45,000 employees, sometimes there are payroll errors, but of course we’re committed to looking into any issues or pay discrepancies,” Felton said. “We certainly would never deliberately shortchange our employees, and we appreciate the union bringing it to our attention.”
Asked why payroll representatives have allegedly not addressed employees’ complaints, Felton said the district has “not had the chance to look into it,” and Tuesday was the first time CPS leadership became aware of the complaints.
During a news conference Tuesday, Alex Rodriguez, a union delegate and middle school social studies teacher at Lasalle Language Academy, said he began hearing from colleagues in December that they were being underpaid, then realized his own pay was shorted. Rodriguez said he and his coworkers reached out to CPS for help, but the issue hasn’t been fixed.
Rodriguez was not one of the employees listed in the grievance, the CTU said.
“As an early career educator and father, every dollar counts as my family and I budget for our mortgage, groceries, and student loans,” Rodriguez told reporters.
The union has asked CPS to correct the reported salary issues and give them back pay. It is also asking the district to “perform a system-wide salary audit” and “review and implement changes” to the payroll and staffing services departments so that concerns about pay are “responded to and resolved within contractual timelines.”
Separately, the union urged the new partially-elected school board sworn in Wednesday to help the two sides reach a settlement.
Outside CTU headquarters Wednesday afternoon, union leaders walked through the outstanding sticking points laid out in a document they published last Friday.
Notably, the document shows the union reduced its proposal on annual raises to 4 or 5% each of the next four years, which is what CPS put on the table last September. But the union also wants guarantees from the school district that there will be no layoffs or furloughs.
The union continues to push for an agreement on issues it says are no-cost, such as adjusting the district’s teacher evaluation system and giving elementary school teachers more prep time.
CTU vice president Jackson Potter said the longer the negotiations drag on, there’s a risk of “reputational damage to both the school board and the schools themselves.”
“We need the school board to step in, use its advocacy, its power, its ability to, you know, make sure students get what they need and bring the parties together,” Potter said.
CTU also released a letter Stacy Davis Gates, the union president, sent to Board of Education President Sean Harden asking for “the opportunity to present to the Board in a public meeting a direct update” on the outstanding issues at the bargaining table. She acknowledged a court order barring school board members from negotiations without CPS CEO Pedro Martinez’s permission and wrote that the union “does not seek a negotiation session.”
Asked Wednesday about the state of negotiations, Felton, who is part of the district’s bargaining team, said both sides are making progress, including on bilingual education.
“This indecision, this back and forth, isn’t good for anybody — it’s not good for our teachers, it’s not good for our students, families,” Felton said. “So we’re at the table working relentlessly to try to get a deal that’s fair for our educators and fiscally responsible to the district.”
The two sides are also scheduled to engage with a third party fact-finder next week.
Reema Amin is a reporter covering Chicago Public Schools. Contact Reema at ramin@chalkbeat.org.
Becky Vevea is the bureau chief for Chalkbeat Chicago. Contact Becky at bvevea@chalkbeat.org.
