CHICAGO – Public school teachers in Chicago signaled they will strike Monday after failing to reach agreement with Chicago’s school district over education reforms sought by Mayor Rahm Emanuel. The strike will mark the first in a quarter century for Chicagoland.
“We have failed to reach an agreement that will prevent a labor strike,” Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis told a press conference on Sunday night. “In the morning, no CTU members will be inside our schools.” Lewis was interrupted by applause from about 100 union supporters as she spoke, some wearing red in support of the union and carrying signs “On Strike” even before she had finished speaking.
About 29,000 teachers and support staff in President Obama’s home city will not report for work on Monday morning, affecting some 350,000 students.
The union seeks relief from over-crowded classes and a reallocation of resources to better fund inner-city education. It also seeks protection from what many view as an attack on teacher’s tenure and status as professionals. In fact, schools have taken to firing experienced teachers and principals to bring in newly credentialed inexperienced teachers at lower wages who are expected to work longer hours with less resources. Many of these new hires do not live in the communities in which they teach.
Earlier, Chicago School Board President David Vitale said the talks had broken down after the city had made its “best offer” to the union, which included a proposed pay rise of an average 16 percent over four years.
“We’ve done everything we can,” Vitale said.
Emanuel said the union chose to strike even though the two sides were close to agreement. “This is totally unnecessary, it is avoidable and our kids do not deserve this,” he said at a press conference after the strike was announced. He told reporters that the two unresolved issues in the negotiations are his demand for teacher evaluations tied to the standardized test results of students, and giving principals of schools more authority and autonomy.
Jesse Sharkey, the union vice president, said the evaluations sought by Emanuel would distort the curriculum, cheapen education and hurt school performance. The union believes charter schools supported by Emanuel, which are taxpayer-funded but not subject to all public school regulations, will undermine public education rather than result in school reform.
Just over 12 percent of Chicago public school students go to the non-union charter schools, which will be open for classes on Monday, school officials said.