With apologies to Chicago's many students (who were undoubtedly having a pretty awesome extended vacation), Chicago's teachers strike will end tomorrow.
The Chicago Teachers Unionâs House of Delegates decided this afternoon to end the cityâs first teacher strike in 25 years and return more than 350,000 students to the classroom Wednesday. The voice vote was taken after some 800 delegates convened at a union meeting hall near Chinatown to discuss and debate a tentative contract. Union leaders had already signed off on the agreement with Chicago Public Schools.
"We said we couldn't solve all the problems. . .and it was time to suspend the strike," CTU President Karen Lewis said at a news conference after the vote. âThe issue is, we cannot get a perfect contract. Thereâs no such thing as a contract that will make all of usâ happy, Lewis said. But âdo we stay on strike forever until every little thing we want can be gotten?â she said.
