Chicago teachers union extends strike

Tweet

InterAksyon.com
The online news portal of TV5

CHICAGO - The union representing Chicago's public school teachers extended a strike Sunday, forcing tens of thousands of children to stay out of class for a second week.

A majority of some 800 union leaders voted to reconvene on Tuesday rather than end the strike in the nation's third-largest school system, so that they could have more time to consider a contract deal that negotiators reached with city officials over the weekend.

The move means schools could open on Wednesday at the earliest.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said in a Twitter message Saturday that he was "optimistic" that students would resume classes Monday.

But after a "civil and frank discussion" on the proposed contract settlement, Chicago Teachers Union delegates said they "voted NOT to suspend the strike."

The union said it will "allow two more days for delegates to take the information back to the picket lines and hold discussions with the over 26,000 members throughout Chicago."

"The issues raised in this contract were too important, had consequences too profound for the future of our public education system... for us to simply take a quick vote based on a short discussion," Chicago Teachers Union president Karen Lewis said.

A key issue in the strike is a new form of teacher evaluation that the union says relies too heavily on student test scores and could lead 30 percent of its members -- some 6,000 teachers -- to be fired in up to two years.

Union delegates have the authority to end the strike, but the union's 26,000 members would have to approve or turn down a new contract.

The strike, the first of its kind in 25 years, is especially awkward for President Barack Obama because the union is fighting Emanuel, his former chief of staff who left the White House to run for mayor of Chicago.

Unions are a key source of support for Obama's Democrats, and the party has fought to maintain the support of teachers even as the president pushes for major education reform that would give schools more leeway to fire poor performers.

Follow @interaksyon