CPS offers to stop using private nurses at schools, union says plan has ‘loopholes’

Nader Issa:

The CPS proposal — made in late July — would put an end, starting with this school year, to contracts that outsource jobs such as counselors, school psychologists, school social workers, case managers, speech pathologists, occupational therapists and physical therapists. Though privatization isn’t widely used for those positions, those jobs would be filled only by full-time union employees.

CPS would have more time to end contracted nursing work in particular but would commit to phasing out privatization of nurses by the end of the 2023-24 school year, CPS officials said.

Nursing positions are the ones most commonly outsourced, and the CTU, parents and students have taken issue in the past with the privatization of nursing jobs. CPS has said those positions have needed to be outsourced because it’s difficult to find qualified candidates for full-time jobs.