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Subscribe to RSSChicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis says delegates have decided to extend their weeklong strike until at least Wednesday to give them time to consult with rank-and-file members before voting to suspend the walkout. Watch her news conference.
Updated at 10:25 a.m. ET: Delegates from the Chicago Teachers Union told their bargaining team Sunday that they want to meet with the schools they represent before making a decision about whether to end their strike.
"They’re not happy with the agreement and would like it to be a lot better for us than it is," Union President Karen Lewis said in a news briefing Sunday evening, adding that they are returning to their schools with the proposal because they do not want to feel rushed to make a decision.
That means Chicago public schools will remained closed Monday and likely Tuesday, affecting 350,000 kindergarten, elementary and high school students. Parents should plan for their children to be out of school until at least Wednesday, Lewis said.
Following the announcement, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, calling the strike "illegal," said he would file an injunction to force an end to the walkout.
"I will not stand by while the children of Chicago are played as pawns in an internal dispute within a union," Emanuel said, adding that the union walked out over issues that are not subject to a strike under Illinois state law.
The union delegates aren't scheduled to meet again until Tuesday, in part out of respect for for the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah, which began at sundown Sunday.
A union bargaining team and city officials had hammered out a proposed contract that would move away from merit pay and allow teachers to appeal their evaluations.
Sitthixay Ditthavong / AP
Chicago Teachers Union delegates arrive for a meeting Sunday in which they are expected to review a proposed contract and vote whether to suspend the week-long strike.
A faction of the union sees it as a "back room deal" that does not have unified support. A source close to the union told NBC Chicago that Lewis' caucus shouted obscenities at her and other leaders late Saturday night, saying, "You sold out" and, "Rahm's getting everything they wanted, what the hell did we get?"
Lewis, exhausted from a tense week, indicated that she's done negotiating and asked "Will my own caucus defy me?"
At the heart of those who oppose this new deal - they feel the negotiating team did not fight for paraprofessionals and special education teachers and students.
Read full coverage at NBCChicago.com
Some delegates shouted at Lewis there is "no way to vote on something we haven't seen."
Teachers revolted last week against sweeping education reforms sought by Emanuel, especially evaluating teachers based on the standardized test scores of their students. They also fear a wave of neighborhood school closings that could result in mass teacher layoffs. They want a guarantee that laid-off teachers will be recalled for other jobs in the district.
"They're still not happy with the evaluations. They're not happy with the recall (provision)," Lewis said of delegates.
Still, Lewis seemed energized in a statement Saturday night, buoyed by the agreement, which came after a weeklong strike that began on Sept. 10.
"This union has proven the Chicago labor movement is neither dormant nor dead," Lewis said in a statement on the union’s blog late on Saturday. "We have solidified our political power and captured the imagination of the nation. No one will ever look upon a teacher and think of him or her as a passive, person to be bullied and walked on ever again."
Emanuel's chief negotiator, School Board President David Vitale, said the union should allow children to go back to school while the two sides complete the process.
"We are extremely disappointed that after 10 months of discussion reaching an honest and fair compromise that (the union) decided to continue their strike of choice and keep our children out of the classroom," Vitale said.
The contract includes what Lewis called victories for the 29,000 union members, which she outlined on the union’s website:
PAY: The teachers union wants a three-year contract that guarantees a 3-percent increase the first year and 2-percent increases for the second and third years. The contract also includes the possibility of being extended a fourth year with a 3-percent raise. A first-year teacher earns about $49,000, according to the National Council on Teacher Quality; the highest-paid teacher earns $92,227.
Chicago Public Schools would move away from merit pay for individual teachers.
EVALUATION: Teachers would be evaluated 70 percent in terms of how they teach (“teacher practice”) and 30 percent in terms of how their students improve (“student growth”). Evaluations will not affect tenured teachers during the first year, and teachers may appeal their evaluation.
HIRES: Responding to parent demands, Chicago Public Schools would hire more than 600 teachers specialized in art, music, physical education and foreign languages, among other teacher specialties. More than half of large school districts rehire laid-off teachers, according to The New York Times; the Chicago school board has pushed to leave control to principals.
Those new hires will allow for the longer class day – which will be seven hours for elementary school students, up from five hours and 45 minutes. Chicago had been known for one of the shortest school days in the country -- a point that became a sticking point for Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
Of those new hires, half must be union employees who were previously laid off. (Higher-rated teachers would have a better chance at being rehired, the Chicago Tribune reported.)
BULLYING: The contract demands ending bullying by principals and managerial personnel to “curtail some of the abusive practices that have run rampant in many neighborhood schools.” Principals, however, will continue to exercise power over hiring teachers, the Tribune reported.
In one instance, according to CBS Chicago, dozens of complaints were made about a principal at Josiah Pickard Elementary School during his five years on the job. A union representative told CBS Chicago that the volume of complaints was not normal for a principal.
TEXTBOOKS: Chicago students would have their textbooks on the first day of school instead of having to wait up to six weeks
Related: Chicago strike: Will teachers union approve proposed contract?
The strike may have hurt Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s image as a hard-nosed innovator, the Chicago Tribune reported, largely because of the mayor’s aggressive statements about teachers – which he implied after the school board nixed half their pay raise.
The strike received nationwide attention in part because Chicago is the third-largest school district in the nation and its teachers hadn’t gone on strike for 25 years, since 1987.
But the strike has made headlines also because Emanuel was Obama’s first chief of staff. Obama, whose daughters attended the private University of Chicago Laboratory School (known as the “Lab school”), campaigned on public school reform and has advocated merit pay.
On Friday, Emanuel released a more muted statement than his ones in the past, according to the Tribune:
"This tentative framework is an honest and principled compromise that is about who we all work for: our students. It preserves more time for learning in the classroom, provides more support for teachers to excel at their craft and gives principals the latitude and responsibility to build an environment in which our children can succeed."
Emanuel had argued for a long school day – which he appears to have achieved with the proposed contract. For high schools, the bell would ring after seven and a half hours.
The contract doesn’t end the school district’s woes, however. After school doors open again, the school district is likely to shutter schools to help close a projected $1 billion budget deficit for the 2014-1015 school year, according to the Tribune.
NBC's Isolde Raftery, Sevil Omer and Reuters contributed to this report.
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Be happy you have a job get your lazy butt's back to work they should fire everyone of them union greed the happy day's are over your very well paid for what you do.
Why do Republicans hate teachers? Because Republicans don't want enlightened citizens. Enlightened citizens tend to question bull-s h i t.
really, in chicago, these morons elected emanuel ...your kidding right
what a stupid comment. I am a repulican, I do not hate teachers. I also know a number of other republicans that do not hate teaches.
Thats why we question barack hussein obama, stupid libs like yourself, worthless, greedy, lazy union pukes.
Yep, we question it all dumbo.
Any intelligent person who cares about the KIDS conserv or dem should look at these unions with nothing but anger.
Only an ignorant individual, such as yourself, would attempt to make it a party issue.
lol they should have just fired everyone of the lazy as##... over paid losers especially in chicago....flunk tards
this is total bull crap. These teachers are making good money. They are upset because increases are based on how well they do. They just want the money haded to them whether they are doing a good job or not. This union needs to be busted. What a Joke.
Compared to teachers around the country, they are already over paid. Bust the Union and see how long they remain unemployed.
If the teachers don't like it, it must have some merit. The next thing they should do is get rid of that fat pig Karen Lewis or mandate a crash diet.
Boo hoo. Jerks!
You're more than lucky you have a job.
Doing it for the children my a$$. How does not being evaluated, getting raises and a super benefit package help the children? Try firing an incompetent teacher and you will find out how strong the union is. Here in FL we had a teacher caught on video striking a developmentally disabled child and calling him names. The union came to her defense and she could not be fired, was put in administration. Teacher unions have outlived their usefulness. Then there was the male teacher that sexually abused his students and they had to buy out his contract. Until parents start waking up and forcing the system to get rid of the incompetent teachers our nation IQ will continue to plummet. I believe unions have a place in the workforce but they can get too strong and teachers and public employee unions should NOT be allowed to strike.
FIRE them
I;m sure the millions of teachers who make a LOT LESS than Chicago's teachers arent happy either so keep your overpaid mouth shut. You should all be fired.
Fire them all and bust the Union.
All I see is a bunch of fat-ass #@%#$s loving the extra time off with pay...Notice all the smiles on their faces, they know exactly what they are doing...They want guaranteed jobs with no accountability...Our kids' education has become worse over the past twenty years due to their ineptitude...If I got the same results they are getting, my non-unionized ass would be fired with no questionsasked...More Pay? They need to weeded out. There's plenty of qualified teachers-in-waiting..
Teachers should be dam glad that they do have jobs...in which they only work 9 months out of the year. I also bet their neighbors wished they owned a two story house and three cars.
The teachers stated early on that this strike was not about pay increases. HA HA!
They work about 7 1/2 months a year have the best retirement program going and they want more? Factor in that the kids they teach can t even hit the standard when the standard is what the teachers spend most of their time trying to teach kids how to hit it. They have jobs paying way more than the average worker with better benefits and they walk off the jobs while millions of people don t have any job at all?????? Seems to me that is the real injustice.
Strike, Strike, Strike
We want more, more, more
We deserve it, we have the hardest job on the planet
If it wasn't for us there would be no civilization.
Do you not realize how hard we work for nine months out of the year?
Do you not realize we work for 170 out of 365 days a year?
We deserve more.
And we are going to hold our breath until we get it. Screw the children.
How come sooo many union reps are over weight and out of shape ???
I love it liberals like Rahm have to come to grips with economic realities.
Well Quit, who cares. There are teachers out there that would take your job and be happy about it. They are not employed and would love to take your place and work!!!!!
an old friend of mine was a teacher. what's so hard about the job? have fun dealing with kids who WILL cut you and threaten you if you don't pass them or give them a go to do what they like in class. these are real gang members in the classroom. you think they will respect the teacher? lmao. you aren't teaching children here. you are teaching gangsters who will do as they will when they will. do you want to get shot or stabbed when you leave the building?
Now this is funny. A democrat Mayor filing a injunction against the strike. I thought democrats loved unions.
You say cutback - we say fightback. The kids can't read - we don't care. I need mo money for stuff.
I wonder how long it will be before Chicago goes bankrupt and ask the Feds for funding of the Teacher's pensions.
80% of students in Chicago classrooms are not proficient in reading or math. Can you imagine any other occupation where you have the unmitigated gaul to expect even more benefits after the Department of Education puts out this informatoin. Emanuel is doing what he has to do to rein in these people. Of course he can't expect any help from his buddy Barry who has said absolutely nothing. Not a surprise, since the unions have him in their back pocket. Pathetic.
United States of America is twenty-sixth in overall school performance in the world.
Out of 34 countries, the U.S. ranked 14th in reading, 17th in science and 25th in math.
And the Republicans want it this way. The more ignorant and less informed the public, the greater their
chances of winning elections.
What better way to accomplish this than to attack teachers.