The Chicago Teachers Union announced late Sunday night that they would go on strike starting Monday morning. It is the first time the union has gone on strike for 25 years. Leaders of the union announced on Sunday that since they were too far apart in their negotiations with city officials a strike could not be prevented.
Chicago’s school district is the third largest in the U.S. Rahm Emanuel, the Chicago mayor, now has a tricky situation as to how he will hand the strike and make sure that 400,000 students remain safe. Officials at the school district announced they were opening more than 140 schools in the district between 8:30 am and 12:30 pm so children could receive breakfast and lunch. Many students in the district receive both meals free during the course of the school year.
The district also called on organizations throughout the community to help provide programs for the students. A number of libraries, churches and other civic organizations said they would hold day camps and other activities for the youngsters.
Chicago’s police chief Gary McCarthy said he was going to deploy officers to all the schools and other locations to make certain students were safe and to make sure teachers that are picketing are not harassed.
Both sides of the contract negotiations were close to agreeing upon teacher’s compensation but were not close on issues such as a new evaluation system for the teachers and their health benefits. Union officials said the decision to strike had been a difficult one, but the action was warranted in order to guarantee students receive the best education going forward. The union has over 26,000 members including teachers and support staff.
