Union: Chicago teachers will go on strike

Chicago teachers will stay out of their classrooms today after contract negotiations broke down Sunday night, starting the first public-school strike in the nation's third-largest city in 25 years.

The walkout will affect more than 400,000 students at the start of the second week of classes for the academic year. Talks between leaders of the union representing more than 26,000 teachers and support workers and the city's Board of Education collapsed following days of meetings over terms of a four-year package.

"We have failed to reach an agreement that would prevent a strike," Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, said in a televised news conference late Sunday night. "No CTU workers will be in school in the morning."

After an all-day negotiating session yesterday, school board president David Vitale told reporters the district had changed its proposal 20 times over the course of talks and didn't have much more to offer. "This is about as much as we can do," he said. "There is only so much money in the system." The district said it offered teachers a 16-percent pay raise over four years and a host of benefit proposals.

Lewis said the two sides are close on teacher compensation but the union has serious concerns about the cost of health benefits, the makeup of the teacher evaluation system and job security, the Chicago Tribune reported.

School officials have said they would open 144 schools between 8:30 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. in the event of a strike, so children who receive free meals can eat breakfast and lunch, The Associated Press. More than 80 percent of the 402,000 students in the system are eligible for free meals, according to Reuters.

Still, parents are being urged to find alternatives and use the schools only as a last resort. The city's 118 charter schools are not affected by a strike.

The strike culminates more than a year of friction between the Chicago Teachers Union and Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a former top aide to President Barack Obama. A Democrat, Emanuel delivered on a campaign promise to lengthen the school day and year. He also got the board to strip educators of a negotiated 4-percent pay raise last year.

Teachers sought a 29-percent raise over 24 months. In his second year as mayor, Emanuel controls the operation of the district, which faces a deficit of about $700 million.