On Monday, Chicago’s public school teachers went on strike, leaving approximately 350,000 students across the country’s third-largest school district with an unscheduled day of leave.
“We have failed to reach an agreement that will prevent a labor strike,” Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said. “No CTU members will be inside of our schools Monday.”
The CTU’s 35,000 members were instructed to stand in front of their schools at 6:30AM to begin picketing. 144 of the district’s 578 public schools remained open to provide children with a safe daytime environment and meals.
While teacher salaries and job benefits are part of the protest, the main point of contention between teachers and administrators has been job security. A new evaluation program based on standardized test scores was recently put into place, meaning that teachers could be fired if their students scored too low on tests.
Estimates by the CTU pegged potential job losses at around 6,000 under the new system.
Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel has come forward to declare that “[the city’s] kids do not deserve this.” Emanuel’s stance has puzzled union officials who have accused him of reneging on promises made to teachers.
Though 144 schools will remain open, parents are still seeking other options to weather out the strike. “Intense” negotiations are still underway to find a middle ground between the city and teachers’ demands.