[h=3]By STEPHANIE BANCHERO[/h]Chicago's public-school teachers hit the picket lines Monday, shutting down classes for about 350,000 students in the nation's third-largest school district.
The strike came after the city and the Chicago Teachers Unions failed to reach agreement on a four-year contract. The two sides had been negotiating for months and kept talking until late Sunday night before the union announced the strike would go forward. It is the first teachers strike in Chicago in a quarter-century and the first in a big U.S. urban district since one in Detroit in 2006.
Associated PressChicago teachers walked a picket line outside an elementary school Monday.
Talks in Chicago resumed Monday, but there was no immediate indication of how long the strike could last or whether the two sides were making progress toward a resolution.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel criticized union leaders for not delaying the strike, given the progress both sides said had been made in talks through Sunday. "This is a strike of choice," Mr. Emanuel said at a news conference Sunday night. "And because of how close we are, it is a strike that is unnecessary."
Union leaders said the city's recent concessions were effectively too little, too late, after what they have characterized as bullying in talks in the months leading up to the deadline.
At Disney Magnet School on the city's North Side, about 100 teachers wearing union T-shirts marched in front of the campus chanting "enough is enough" and "we want a fair contract." They waved placards with "on strike" and "I love my students." The scene played out at scores of schools across the city, as about 26,000 teachers and other personnel walked out.
"It's frustrating because we should be inside with our kids," said George Drase, an-8th grade teacher at the school.
The conflict comes amid broader tension during the economic downturn between public-sector unions and state and local governments trying to plug budget gaps.
The Chicago battle has pitted Karen Lewis, one of the country's most vocal labor leaders, against Mr. Emanuel, one of its most prominent mayors and the former White House chief of staff for President Barack Obama. The Democratic mayor has made efforts to overhaul the city's public education a centerpiece of his administration.
The two sides have been negotiating for months over issues including wages, health-care benefits and job security. The city has offered teachers a 3% pay raise the first year and 2% annual raises for the next three years. The average teacher salary in Chicago is about $70,000.
On Sunday night, city officials and union leaders said the wage issues aren't the sticking point. Rather, the two sides are at loggerheads over a new teacher-evaluation system and how much of it should be weighted on student test scores, and over job security for teachers laid off from low-performing schools.
The strike, announced late Sunday night, left parents scrambling. The city said about 140 of its 681 schools were open Monday, staffed by nonunion district employees, to provide breakfast, lunch and basic activities.
Write to Stephanie Banchero at [email protected]
The strike came after the city and the Chicago Teachers Unions failed to reach agreement on a four-year contract. The two sides had been negotiating for months and kept talking until late Sunday night before the union announced the strike would go forward. It is the first teachers strike in Chicago in a quarter-century and the first in a big U.S. urban district since one in Detroit in 2006.
Associated PressChicago teachers walked a picket line outside an elementary school Monday.
Talks in Chicago resumed Monday, but there was no immediate indication of how long the strike could last or whether the two sides were making progress toward a resolution.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel criticized union leaders for not delaying the strike, given the progress both sides said had been made in talks through Sunday. "This is a strike of choice," Mr. Emanuel said at a news conference Sunday night. "And because of how close we are, it is a strike that is unnecessary."
Union leaders said the city's recent concessions were effectively too little, too late, after what they have characterized as bullying in talks in the months leading up to the deadline.
At Disney Magnet School on the city's North Side, about 100 teachers wearing union T-shirts marched in front of the campus chanting "enough is enough" and "we want a fair contract." They waved placards with "on strike" and "I love my students." The scene played out at scores of schools across the city, as about 26,000 teachers and other personnel walked out.
"It's frustrating because we should be inside with our kids," said George Drase, an-8th grade teacher at the school.
The conflict comes amid broader tension during the economic downturn between public-sector unions and state and local governments trying to plug budget gaps.
The Chicago battle has pitted Karen Lewis, one of the country's most vocal labor leaders, against Mr. Emanuel, one of its most prominent mayors and the former White House chief of staff for President Barack Obama. The Democratic mayor has made efforts to overhaul the city's public education a centerpiece of his administration.
The two sides have been negotiating for months over issues including wages, health-care benefits and job security. The city has offered teachers a 3% pay raise the first year and 2% annual raises for the next three years. The average teacher salary in Chicago is about $70,000.
On Sunday night, city officials and union leaders said the wage issues aren't the sticking point. Rather, the two sides are at loggerheads over a new teacher-evaluation system and how much of it should be weighted on student test scores, and over job security for teachers laid off from low-performing schools.
The strike, announced late Sunday night, left parents scrambling. The city said about 140 of its 681 schools were open Monday, staffed by nonunion district employees, to provide breakfast, lunch and basic activities.
Write to Stephanie Banchero at [email protected]