[h=3]By STEPHANIE BANCHERO[/h]CHICAGO—The Chicago Teachers Union's governing body voted Tuesday to call off the strike that left 350,000 students in the nation's third-largest district out of class for more than a week.
Classes are expected to resume Wednesday, city officials said, bringing an end to a strike that thrust the city into the forefront of a national debate over the use of test scores in teacher evaluations and rehiring rules. The vote came days after the city and the teachers union reached a tentative deal on a three-year contract. That deal must now be ratified by the full union membership.
"The children of Chicago got a great deal—for the first time, they will have a full school day and full school year that will meet their full potential and put them on a path to a successful future," said Sarah Hamilton, a spokeswoman for Mayor Rahm Emanuel. "This is a fair, honest and transformative contract that will benefit our children and teachers in ways that have never been seen in the Chicago Public Schools."
Tuesday's voice vote by the governing body, with what union President Karen Lewis said was an "overwhelming" majority approving an end to the strike, came after the approximately 800 members of the body, known as delegates, had voted Sunday to continue the strike into its second week to give teachers time to study the tentative deal.
"I feel today that people are accepting the reality that we got as much as we could get," said Sharon Schmidt, a high-school English teacher and delegate as she walked into the meeting. "I am ready to accept that this strike was a win and keep moving forward."
Chicago's teachers strike—the first in a major urban center since Detroit's in 2006—has focused on issues at the heart of fights over education policy, including the use of test scores to evaluate teachers and fire poor performers, and job guarantees for laid-off educators in urban districts hemorrhaging students. The battle over those issues has grown increasingly intense in recent years, thanks in part to the embrace of such initiatives by a group of Democratic mayors, such as Mr. Emanuel, seeking new ways to address long-standing urban-education problems while also grappling with budgetary woes.
Both advocates of school overhauls and labor leaders nationwide have been watching the Chicago fight, and perceptions of its outcome could strengthen the hand of like-minded politicians or embolden unions to take a more defiant stand.
"I am so thrilled that people are going back," the union's Ms. Lewis said at a news conference. "Everyone is looking forward to seeing their kids tomorrow."
The mayor has noted the tentative deal incorporates a longer school day and links teacher evaluations to student performance for the first time—although both of those requirements were established by state law before contract talks started. City officials note that the more rigorous evaluation system would allow them to better identify the worst-performing teachers, offer help and fire those who don't improve.
When job cuts occur, the contract means the city would now be able to lay off at least some teachers based on performance, rather than simply based on how long they have served.
But the mayor also gave significant ground to get the deal, according to a copy of the draft contract seen by The Wall Street Journal, weakening key elements of an education agenda that he has said is central to his plans for the city.
While the draft contract allows the city to dismiss teachers who receive weak evaluations, it makes it difficult to do so for all but the absolute weakest. It also requires the city, when layoffs occur, to target nontenured teachers ahead of almost all tenured teachers—even if those tenured teachers have lower evaluations. And the deal requires that principals—whom Mr. Emanuel wanted to continue to have a free hand in hiring teachers—must in some cases choose new hires from among teachers laid off from closed schools.
Some aspects of the tentative Chicago deal don't go as far recent deals done in other big cities. It gives the city less room than a deal in Washington, D.C., in 2009 to move out struggling teachers, and it doesn't match a Denver contract signed in 2004 when it comes to awarding raises, in part, on performance.
"This is what happens in a negotiation—you sometimes have to split the baby," said Kate Walsh, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, an advocacy group that pushes for better teacher evaluations. "There are some clear wins for kids, but there are also some notable setbacks."
Ms. Lewis had earlier said her members weren't happy with the agreement. "This is not a good deal by any stretch of the imagination," she said Sunday night. "But this is the deal we got."
Mr. Emanuel, former chief of staff to President Barack Obama, has earned a reputation for driving hard bargains, and several factors seemed to favor him going into the contract fight. He won election last year without the support of the teachers union so wasn't beholden to it for political support. The state legislature last year pushed through measures that helped his agenda by making it tougher for Chicago teachers to strike and giving the mayor the power to lengthen the school day. And he boasted solid public support: a Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll in May showed 52% of Chicago voters saying they approved of Mr. Emanuel's job performance, compared with 29% who disapproved and 20% who had no opinion.
The draft contract calls for a 3% raise the first year and 2% raises the next two years. The two sides can agree to extend the contract to a fourth year with a 3% raise. Mr. Emanuel had wanted to replace the "step and lane" raises that teachers get for years of service and extra credentials with merit pay. But the union blocked that. District officials say the total pay increases in the deal would average 4.4% annually over four years, and cost an additional $295 million for a district that faces an estimated $1 billion deficit in 2015-16.
Under the deal, teachers would be ranked into four categories. Those in the lowest tier, "unsatisfactory," could be fired in 90 days if they don't improve—although they can appeal their evaluations. Teachers in the second-to-lowest category, "developing," would be moved to the "unsatisfactory" ranking after two years unless they gain at least one point annually on the evaluations, which have a 100-400 point scale.
A pilot study conducted last year in about 100 schools showed that about 2% of teachers fell into the lowest rating, and 28% into "developing." Ms. Lewis said as many as 6,000 teachers could face dismissal under the city's original plan.
Tim Daly, president of the New Teacher Project, which supports tougher evaluations to improve teacher effectiveness, called the provision "twisted" and said it allows a teacher to "stagnate at a mediocre" level forever. "This policy makes no sense if you are trying to reassure parents that the district can consistently hold a high standard on teacher quality," he said.
The proposal also institutes a new policy that, for the first time, would base layoffs partly on performance. If layoffs occur, teachers rated "unsatisfactory" would be the first to go. Non-tenured teachers would be laid off next, even if they had a better rating than a tenured teacher.
—Caroline Porter
and Douglas Belkin
contributed to this article.
Classes are expected to resume Wednesday, city officials said, bringing an end to a strike that thrust the city into the forefront of a national debate over the use of test scores in teacher evaluations and rehiring rules. The vote came days after the city and the teachers union reached a tentative deal on a three-year contract. That deal must now be ratified by the full union membership.
"The children of Chicago got a great deal—for the first time, they will have a full school day and full school year that will meet their full potential and put them on a path to a successful future," said Sarah Hamilton, a spokeswoman for Mayor Rahm Emanuel. "This is a fair, honest and transformative contract that will benefit our children and teachers in ways that have never been seen in the Chicago Public Schools."
Tuesday's voice vote by the governing body, with what union President Karen Lewis said was an "overwhelming" majority approving an end to the strike, came after the approximately 800 members of the body, known as delegates, had voted Sunday to continue the strike into its second week to give teachers time to study the tentative deal.
"I feel today that people are accepting the reality that we got as much as we could get," said Sharon Schmidt, a high-school English teacher and delegate as she walked into the meeting. "I am ready to accept that this strike was a win and keep moving forward."
Chicago's teachers strike—the first in a major urban center since Detroit's in 2006—has focused on issues at the heart of fights over education policy, including the use of test scores to evaluate teachers and fire poor performers, and job guarantees for laid-off educators in urban districts hemorrhaging students. The battle over those issues has grown increasingly intense in recent years, thanks in part to the embrace of such initiatives by a group of Democratic mayors, such as Mr. Emanuel, seeking new ways to address long-standing urban-education problems while also grappling with budgetary woes.
Both advocates of school overhauls and labor leaders nationwide have been watching the Chicago fight, and perceptions of its outcome could strengthen the hand of like-minded politicians or embolden unions to take a more defiant stand.
"I am so thrilled that people are going back," the union's Ms. Lewis said at a news conference. "Everyone is looking forward to seeing their kids tomorrow."
The mayor has noted the tentative deal incorporates a longer school day and links teacher evaluations to student performance for the first time—although both of those requirements were established by state law before contract talks started. City officials note that the more rigorous evaluation system would allow them to better identify the worst-performing teachers, offer help and fire those who don't improve.
When job cuts occur, the contract means the city would now be able to lay off at least some teachers based on performance, rather than simply based on how long they have served.
But the mayor also gave significant ground to get the deal, according to a copy of the draft contract seen by The Wall Street Journal, weakening key elements of an education agenda that he has said is central to his plans for the city.
While the draft contract allows the city to dismiss teachers who receive weak evaluations, it makes it difficult to do so for all but the absolute weakest. It also requires the city, when layoffs occur, to target nontenured teachers ahead of almost all tenured teachers—even if those tenured teachers have lower evaluations. And the deal requires that principals—whom Mr. Emanuel wanted to continue to have a free hand in hiring teachers—must in some cases choose new hires from among teachers laid off from closed schools.
Some aspects of the tentative Chicago deal don't go as far recent deals done in other big cities. It gives the city less room than a deal in Washington, D.C., in 2009 to move out struggling teachers, and it doesn't match a Denver contract signed in 2004 when it comes to awarding raises, in part, on performance.
"This is what happens in a negotiation—you sometimes have to split the baby," said Kate Walsh, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, an advocacy group that pushes for better teacher evaluations. "There are some clear wins for kids, but there are also some notable setbacks."
Ms. Lewis had earlier said her members weren't happy with the agreement. "This is not a good deal by any stretch of the imagination," she said Sunday night. "But this is the deal we got."
Mr. Emanuel, former chief of staff to President Barack Obama, has earned a reputation for driving hard bargains, and several factors seemed to favor him going into the contract fight. He won election last year without the support of the teachers union so wasn't beholden to it for political support. The state legislature last year pushed through measures that helped his agenda by making it tougher for Chicago teachers to strike and giving the mayor the power to lengthen the school day. And he boasted solid public support: a Chicago Tribune/WGN-TV poll in May showed 52% of Chicago voters saying they approved of Mr. Emanuel's job performance, compared with 29% who disapproved and 20% who had no opinion.
The draft contract calls for a 3% raise the first year and 2% raises the next two years. The two sides can agree to extend the contract to a fourth year with a 3% raise. Mr. Emanuel had wanted to replace the "step and lane" raises that teachers get for years of service and extra credentials with merit pay. But the union blocked that. District officials say the total pay increases in the deal would average 4.4% annually over four years, and cost an additional $295 million for a district that faces an estimated $1 billion deficit in 2015-16.
Under the deal, teachers would be ranked into four categories. Those in the lowest tier, "unsatisfactory," could be fired in 90 days if they don't improve—although they can appeal their evaluations. Teachers in the second-to-lowest category, "developing," would be moved to the "unsatisfactory" ranking after two years unless they gain at least one point annually on the evaluations, which have a 100-400 point scale.
A pilot study conducted last year in about 100 schools showed that about 2% of teachers fell into the lowest rating, and 28% into "developing." Ms. Lewis said as many as 6,000 teachers could face dismissal under the city's original plan.
Tim Daly, president of the New Teacher Project, which supports tougher evaluations to improve teacher effectiveness, called the provision "twisted" and said it allows a teacher to "stagnate at a mediocre" level forever. "This policy makes no sense if you are trying to reassure parents that the district can consistently hold a high standard on teacher quality," he said.
The proposal also institutes a new policy that, for the first time, would base layoffs partly on performance. If layoffs occur, teachers rated "unsatisfactory" would be the first to go. Non-tenured teachers would be laid off next, even if they had a better rating than a tenured teacher.
—Caroline Porter
and Douglas Belkin
contributed to this article.