Thousands of public school teachers marched in downtown Chicago on Monday as the first strike in a quarter century showed no signs of ending soon in a dispute over reforms sought by Mayor Rahm Emanuel and endorsed by President Barack Obama’s administration.
Some 29,000 teachers and support staff in the nation’s third-largest school system were involved, leaving parents of 350,000 students between kindergarten and high school age to find alternative supervision.
“There’s no excuse for either side for not coming to an agreement,” said Faith Griggs-York, mother of a first-grader at Agassiz Elementary School, as she dropped her daughter off at a community centre a mile from the school.
“I think both sides, because of what they are doing to parents and because of what they are doing to kids, should be embarrassed,” Griggs-York said.
The teachers’ union called the strike on Sunday night after months of negotiations did not resolve major disagreements over how teachers will be evaluated and giving school principals more authority over hiring.
The union and school district negotiated throughout Monday, but when School Board President David Vitale emerged from the talks, he said no agreement had been reached.
“We have said to them (the union) again that we believe we should resolve this tomorrow, that we are close enough to get this resolved,” Vitale said. The teachers union did not immediately respond to a request for reaction to Vitale’s comments.