Chicago schoolteachers and students went back to their classrooms Wednesday morning after seven work days on strike in the nation's third-largest school district, with the city and the union each finding reasons to claim at least some degree of victory in the often-acrimonious dispute.
The proposed contract now goes to the more than 26,000 members of the Chicago Teachers Union, who are expected to ratify the agreement offering annual raises of 3%, 2% and 2% over three years and a possible fourth year at 3%. With cost-of-living increases and extra pay for more experience and advanced degrees, most teachers can expect at least double-digit raises over the life of the pact. The average teacher salary in Chicago is about $76,000, though starting pay is significantly less.
Still, the strike, which closed classes for about 350,000 students, more often seemed about issues other than pay. The dispute centered especially on layoff policies and the role of students' standardized test scores in evaluations. It was those issues that helped propel the Chicago strike into the spotlight in the nation's ongoing battle over the quality of education, particularly in financially pressed large cities.
The union fell short of the 30% raises it had sought, but President Karen Lewis said that her side had nevertheless gained ground, such as by blocking Mayor Rahm Emanuel's call for merit pay and a tougher evaluation plan. The union also won a policy to recall high-performing teachers who were laid off because of school closings.
Some parents expressed hope Wednesday that the tentative agreement would benefit students in a district grappling with high dropout rates and poor performance.
"They'll win from the strike," said Leslie Sabbs-Kizer, referring to her children as she walked them to a South Side elementary school.
Wilonda Cannon, a single mother raising her four children in North Lawndale, a poor West Side neighborhood beset by gang shootings, said she was relieved that her two youngest were returning to class after spending the last seven weekdays with their grandfather.
She said she hoped the agreement was the beginning of something new for Chicago's public school system, which has long struggled with high drop-out rates and low test scores. It will take months if not years before parents and teachers will see whether the changes and contract provisions pay off for students.
"I don't know all the ins and outs (of the contract negotiations) ... but it does seem as though it's a step in the right direction," Cannon said.
The deal offered "major gains," including a longer school day and language clarifying that principals have the right to hire the teachers they want, he said. And the three-year contract will cost taxpayers more than $30 million less than the four-year contract that expired in June.
"We said that we couldn't solve all the problems of the world with one contract, and it was time to end the strike," said Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis.
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