CPAA Secures Historic First Agreement with CPS and the Students Are the Real Winners

On Friday (August 8), CPAA reached a binding memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) marking the first enforceable agreement for school leaders in CPS history. It addresses urgent needs for school leaders, ensuring stronger schools and better outcomes for students. Principals and assistant principals oversee staff, shape learning conditions, and create the environment that allows students to thrive. Now, for the first time, they have a guaranteed, enforceable voice in the circumstances that impact all of it. This agreement is a giant leap toward repairing past harm, honoring the leaders who stood with CPAA even at personal cost, and giving school leaders through their union ( just as is the case with SEIU and CTU) a formal seat at the table to shape the most important factors affecting schools and students.

This agreement isn’t something CPS simply “granted” school leaders. It is the direct result of nearly a decade of organizing, advocacy, and persistence under former CPAA President Troy LaRaviere’s leadership and now Kia Banks’. Calling it hard-won is almost an understatement. Along the way, CPAA faced roadblocks, legal battles, and public misrepresentations (including the false narrative that principal frustrations were minor or that personal differences were the problem). In reality, principals in CPS were too often made the face of policies they didn’t support, left to manage failing systems, and even targeted with retaliation. Too many feeling isolated in their roles and unappreciated in their communities. On Friday, all of that changed.

While the reported salary increase and step advancements are important in illustrating the value of school leaders, they’re only part of the story. The agreed MOU lays the foundation for Compensation Reform and Parity and delivers:

  • School Leader Mental and Physical Safety Protections  

  • Fair Discipline and Grievance Procedures  

  • Professional Development Commitments  

  • Union Representation Rights  

CPAA will not release the details of the MOU at this time, CPAA President Kia Banks, “Our members will get that first, along with opportunities to ask questions and fully understand the agreement before communicating to the greater public,” But the magnitude is clear: this is a turning point for CPAA, for Chicago’s school leaders, and most importantly, for the students we serve.

Kia R. Banks, CPAA President
“Everything we do begins and ends with what’s best for our children, the students of CPS. This agreement ensures the people responsible for protecting and nurturing those students every day now have the support and protections needed to effectively lead their schools. When school leaders are supported and heard, students are safer, schools are stronger, and every child has a better chance to succeed.

I thank the CPS bargaining team for negotiating in good faith, former CPS Chief Education Officer Bogdana Chkoumbova for opening lines of communication, our incredible bargaining team for their relentless work, and Troy LaRaviere for creating the environment and securing the union rights that made this possible.”

Troy LaRaviere, Former CPAA President
“This milestone is the result of years of organizing, persistence, and a refusal to accept less than our school leaders deserve. Our members stood together, and CPS had no choice but to formally acknowledge the vital role principals play in the success of our schools. But this MOU is not the finish line. It is another step toward the respect and dignity school leaders deserve, And proof that we don’t fight to fight… we fight to ensure that school leaders have the tools, protections, and authority they need to give every child in Chicago the best possible chance to succeed. That work continues.”

Tyrone Dowdell, Principal and CPAA Bargaining Team Member
“Being at the table meant our daily realities shaped the conversation. For the first time, I felt like the decisions being made came from a real understanding of what it takes to run a school: the good, the hard, and everything in between. Principals are the backbone of our schools, and this agreement finally recognizes that. By listening to principals through the CPAA union, CPS is taking a step toward making sure policies and procedures match the realities we live every day, and that ultimately gives students the best chance to succeed.”

Principal Raul Magdaleno
“For the first time in CPS history, school leaders have enforceable protections. This agreement gives school leaders the protections they deserve, and a real voice so they can lead boldly and continue to put students first without fear. Our union has worked tirelessly to ensure administrators can lead schools without fear of retaliation, with fair procedures, and with the security needed to create the best possible conditions for our school communities.”

The agreement now moves to CPAA members for ratification and then to the Chicago Board of Education for approval. Once in place, it will form the foundation for CPAA’s first full collective bargaining agreement and a landmark moment for Chicago’s school leaders and the students they serve.

With school starting next Monday, principals will open their doors with the same unwavering commitment to keep students safe, learning, and cared for but this time with one major fight now behind them. This agreement moves them closer to the respect, protections, and resources they’ve long deserved as CPAA continues to push for fair budgets, safe transportation, and the nutrition and wrap-around care that every child needs to thrive. The MOU is just the beginning of CPAA’s first full collective bargaining agreement, and just one chapter in the larger fight for equitable public education in every Chicago public school for every public school student. A fight that starts with supporting the leaders who fight for them. 

Media Contact:
Tiphani Chaplin
Chicago Principals and Administrators Association
tchaplin@mycpaa.com