The Chicago Teachers Union is threatening to file a lawsuit against Chicago Public Schools over what the union\u2019s lawyers say is the delayed payment of some $300,000 in stipends for high school athletic directors.<\/p>\n
On Monday an attorney representing the union sent the district a letter saying \u201cto avoid a lawsuit\u201d CPS should distribute the $7,525 stipends to athletic directors at 41 high schools who haven\u2019t been paid for their work during the fall athletic season. The union\u2019s lawyer gave the district a deadline of Thursday.<\/p>\n
Illinois law requires wages to be paid no later than 13 days after the pay period in which they are earned, and \u201cwe are now months past that deadline,\u201d attorney Josiah Groff wrote. The fall sports season typically ends by December. Prior to this school year, Groff wrote, athletic directors typically got paid within two months of their season ending.<\/p>\n
According to the letter, the district also hasn\u2019t paid stipends for nearly 70 athletic directors for the winter season, which concluded at the end of March. The union said it would take legal action if those aren\u2019t paid soon, too.<\/p>\n
A spokesperson for CPS said the district is reviewing the claims made in the letter and that about half of the athletic directors mentioned are scheduled to receive their payment on May 15, though it was unclear what season that work was for.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe others have either already received payment or do not meet the eligibility requirements for the stipend at this time,\u201d the spokesperson said in a statement. \u201cThe District is focused on processing these payments and is addressing the issue through the appropriate labor-management channels.\u201d<\/p>\n
The district has been dealing with ongoing financial troubles. CPS is projected to end the school year with a $45 million deficit and may have to contend with a $529 million deficit next year. Recently, CPS was caught up in a disagreement with the Archdiocese of Chicago<\/a> over whether the district was holding back federal funding meant for students with disabilities who attend private schools.<\/p>\n In the letter, Groff attributed the stipend delay to an \u201cinternal disagreement within CPS\u201d about whether the pay should come from the district\u2019s centralized budget or individual school budgets.<\/p>\n Wendy Weingarten, the sports committee liaison for the CTU, said every athletic director should be getting the stipend and that should come from the district\u2019s central budget. Weingarten and some athletic directors say CPS officials have recently told the union that athletic directors at large high schools aren\u2019t eligible for the stipend.<\/p>\n According to the CTU\u2019s lawyer, the 41 high schools where athletic directors have not been paid are some of the district\u2019s largest, including Lane Tech, Whitney Young, Amundsen, Jones and Curie.<\/p>\n