The Chicago teachers Strike entered its seventh day with a potentially climactic vote Tuesday afternoon by the
Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) House of Delegates.
We used
yesterday
the relatively small differences on four key issues for teachers between the final Chicago Public Schools’ final pre strike offer and the tentative agreement arrived at by both sides.
Delegates received a 23-page summary of the agreement on Sunday and decided to hear from members before taking today’s vote.
Teachers who said they were fighting to improve the learning conditions for children might feel some disappointment.
The agreement contains no change for class size (Click on the notes for the full documents.).
It maintains the current ratio of librarians of one per 500 students.
The agreement includes the commitment to establish a Workload Committee to investigate clinicians, counselors and special education teachers workloads. The committee will have $500,000 to address understaffing, according to the agreement.
The agreement has no language about the physical facilities in which students learn. The absence of air conditioning had been a substantial concern among some teachers we spoke with at Whittier Dual Language Academy in the Pilsen neighborhood.
These elements could lead teachers to encourage the delegates to reject the recommendation of
and continue the strike.
Today’s vote takes place against the backdrop of a lawsuit filed by the
Monday asking for the strike to be declared illegal.
The suit asserted that CTU is striking on issues that the
said cannot be the subject of a lawful strike.
It also said the strike posed a “clear and present danger to the health and safety of the public.”
In its response, CTU called the action “vindictive” and said it was consistent with Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s “bullying behavior.” The union asserted that it was negotiating over mandatory subjects of bargaining.
