fb-pixelChicago teachers union chief hopeful that deal is close - The Boston Globe Skip to main content

Chicago teachers union chief hopeful that deal is close

But schools will remain closed at least 1 more day

CHICAGO — The Chicago Teachers Union said Thursday that the city’s public schools will stay closed for at least one more day, but the union president said she was hopeful that both sides were close to completing a settlement to end the nearly weeklong strike.

‘‘We are optimistic, but we are still hammering things out,’’ Karen Lewis said.

The union called a special delegates meeting for Friday afternoon, when the bargaining team is to give an update on contract talks.

‘‘We’ve made progress in some areas, but still we have a way to go,’’ Lewis added. ‘‘Teachers, paraprofessionals, and clinicians remain hopeful but energized.’’

Advertisement



Negotiations resumed Thursday with an air of optimism. Lewis said students could be back in class by Monday, a week after teachers walked out.

About 25,000 teachers have been on the picket line in the nation’s third-largest school district. The most contentious issues have included teacher evaluations that incorporate students’ standardized test scores and job security.

After contract talks went late into the night Wednesday, Lewis said the sides had definitely come closer together. School board president David Vitale was also more positive.

The optimism was evident on the picket lines, too.

‘‘I know that we will have a good resolution to this, and I do believe it will be soon,’’ said Michelle Gunderson, an elementary school teacher picketing on the city’s North Side. The negotiators ‘‘do not mean to have us be embroiled in this for longer than we have to.’’

The school board’s latest proposal scaled back penalties to teachers after the two sides argued about what percentage of student performance should be weighed and how that should be used to judge job performance.

Under an old proposal, the union estimated that 6,000 teachers could lose their jobs within two years.

The latest offer included provisions for evaluations of tenured teachers that would not result in dismissal in the first year. It also altered categories that teachers can be rated on and an appeals process.

Advertisement



School districts nationwide have grappled with teacher assessments. The Obama administration has given states incentives to use student performance as a component of evaluations.

Teachers have said it is unfair to use test scores to evaluate them, especially with other factors affecting student learning that they cannot control: poverty, hunger, and the inability to speak fluent English.

Chicago’s walkout canceled class for about 350,000 students and has left parents scrambling to make other arrangements for young children. The district has kept some schools open on a limited basis, primarily to provide meals and supervision. More than 80 percent of Chicago Public Schools students qualify for free or reduced-price lunches.

The walkout is the first Chicago teachers strike in 25 years. A 1987 walkout lasted 19 days.

Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel has called the strike unnecessary and urged the union to continue the negotiations while the schools are operating.