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hicago Teachers Go on Strike
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By STEPHANIE BANCHERO

Chicago's public-school teachers hit the picket lines Monday, shutting down classes for about 350,000 students in the nation's third-largest school district.


The Chicago teachers strike highlights tension between a new crop of Democratic mayors and teachers unions and other labor groups as cities try to overhaul public-education and plug municipal-budget holes. Stephanie Banchero has details on The News Hub.

The strike came after the city and the Chicago Teachers Union failed to reach agreement on a four-year contract. The two sides had been negotiating for months and kept talking until late Sunday night before the union announced the strike would go forward. It is the first teachers strike in Chicago in a quarter-century and the first in a big U.S. urban district since one in Detroit in 2006.

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Associated Press
Chicago teachers walked a picket line outside an elementary school Monday.

Talks in Chicago resumed Monday, but there was no immediate indication of how long the strike could last or whether the two sides were making progress toward a resolution.


Chicago public school teachers went on strike Monday, canceling classes in the nation's third largest school system, after marathon contract talks ended Sunday night without a deal. WSJ's Stephanie Banchero reports. Photo: Associated Press.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel criticized union leaders for not delaying the strike, given the progress both sides said had been made in talks through Sunday. "This is a strike of choice, and it's the wrong choice for our children and it's not necessary—totally avoidable," Mr. Emanuel said at a news conference Monday.

Union leaders said the city's recent concessions were effectively too little, too late, after what they have characterized as bullying in talks in the months leading up to the deadline.

At Disney Magnet School on the city's North Side, about 100 teachers wearing union T-shirts marched in front of the campus chanting "enough is enough" and "we want a fair contract." They waved placards with "on strike" and "I love my students." The scene played out at scores of schools across the city, as about 26,000 teachers and other personnel walked out.

Teachers on Strike

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Jean Lachat/Reuters
Teachers walked the picket line outside Anthony Overton School in Chicago Monday.

"It's frustrating because we should be inside with our kids," said George Drase, an 8th-grade teacher at the school.

The conflict comes amid broader tension during the economic downturn between public-sector unions and state and local governments trying to plug budget gaps.

The Chicago battle has pitted Karen Lewis, one of the country's most vocal labor leaders, against Mr. Emanuel, one of its most prominent mayors and the former White House chief of staff for President Barack Obama. The Democratic mayor has made efforts to overhaul the city's public education a centerpiece of his administration.

The two sides have been negotiating for months over issues including wages, health-care benefits and job security. The city has offered teachers a 3% pay raise the first year and 2% annual raises for the next three years. The average teacher salary in Chicago is about $70,000.

On Sunday night, city officials and union leaders said the wage issues aren't the sticking point. Rather, the two sides are at loggerheads over a new teacher-evaluation system and how much of it should be weighted on student test scores, and over job security for teachers laid off from low-performing schools.

The strike, announced late Sunday night, left parents scrambling. The city said about 140 of its 681 schools were open Monday, staffed by nonunion district employees, to provide breakfast, lunch and basic activities.

Quoted from CICERO

This is good for the kids...Anything to get them away from public school indoctrination. I is apparent they can't teach them to read and write, what's the point?

Quoted from BuckStrider

Case in point.

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The Chicago battle has pitted Karen Lewis, one of the country's most vocal labor leaders, against Mr. Emanuel, one of its most prominent mayors and the former White House chief of staff for President Barack Obama. The Democratic mayor has made efforts to overhaul the city's public education a centerpiece of his administration.

Quoted from senders

BECAUSE NATIONAL HEALTH CARE IS THE NEXT GIANT UNION/PENSION/PROGRESSION.....of podium pucks....

a great wave to ride right now.....

it doesn't take a high school education to wipe the a$$ of another human being....at least that's the leaders view....

but something other than SS to rely on (in name only) is a great sale point to make

moooooove over teachers....