CHICAGO (AP) — The Latest on Chicago Public Schools teachers’ strike (all times local):
3:15 p.m.
Teachers say they’re pleased and relieved to be going back to work after their union and the city reached an agreement to settle an 11-day strike.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday announced a contract agreement that will re-open schools Friday.
Teachers say they are satisfied with mayor’s decision to allow five days to make up for time lost to the strike.
Fifty-year-old high school physical education teacher Lloyd Jimenez says he thinks the city made a greater concession than he expected.
He says the settlement comes as a huge relief. He had feared he might lose his health benefits and jeopardize a kidney transplant his wife needs.
Elementary school science teacher Hillary Remis says she believes both sides compromised but the deal can only benefit students.
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2:35 p.m.
Families across Chicago are breathing a sigh of relief after learning a two-week teachers’ strike is over and classes are set to resume.
Parent Dominique Dukes has two children who are Chicago Public Schools students. They’re ages 7 and 14. She says she printed worksheets for them at the library to keep them occupied during the 11 days that they missed school but she fears they missed out on their education.
She’s happy they can go back to class on Friday and hopes there isn’t ever another strike.
Officials with the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools announced that they reached an agreement Thursday afternoon and that classes would resume Friday. The last sticking point had been whether the district would make up days lost to the strike. They agreed to make up five lost days.
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1:50 p.m.
The Chicago Teachers Union says it has reached agreement with the nation’s third-largest school district to make up five of 11 school days lost during the teachers strike.
The union and city officials announced Thursday that the strike has ended and that classes will resume Friday.
CTU tweeted that members have agreed to “make up five days of student instruction.” The city has provided no further detail.
The union’s delegates voted Wednesday night to accept a tentative agreement that includes pay raises over a five-year contract. But they said they wouldn’t end the strike unless the mayor committed to making up some of the lost days.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she would not respond to a “unilateral demand” but was open to negotiations.
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1:40 p.m.
The Chicago mayor and the city’s teachers union say a strike that has cancelled classes for 11 days has been suspended and that classes will resume Friday.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Friday that the Chicago Teachers Union has agreed to the terms of a tentative deal.
The strike began Oct. 17.
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11:10 a.m.
The president of Chicago’s teachers union says he’s open to a compromise on making up two weeks of lost class time because of a strike.
Jesse Sharkey said Thursday that restoring all 11 days of canceled classes may not be feasible. He says union leaders want to have a conversation with Mayor Lori Lightfoot but that the amount of makeup time “can’t be zero.”
Chicago Teachers Union delegates voted Wednesday night to accept a tentative agreement that includes pay raises over a five-year contract. But they say they won’t end a strike unless the mayor commits to making up class days.
Lightfoot says adding two weeks is a “nonstarter” but has suggested she’s open to a compromise.
The impasse has led to more than 300,000 students missing 11 days of school.
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10:15 a.m.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says the teachers union’s demand to make up two weeks of lost class time because of their strike is a “nonstarter.”
Lightfoot said Thursday that the Chicago Teachers Union presented a “unilateral demand” as they accepted a tentative agreement late Wednesday with the nation’s third-largest district.
Lightfoot says she’s only open to continuing discussions that are in the “spirit of compromise.” She has maintained throughout the strike that she won’t extend the school year.
Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson says there isn’t a way to do it without further disrupting families’ lives.
CTU delegates voted Wednesday night to accept a tentative agreement that includes pay raises over a five-year contract.
The impasse has led to more than 300,000 students missing 11 days of school.
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8 a.m.
Striking Chicago teachers say they will return to their classrooms but only if the city agrees to make up two weeks of lost class time.
Elected delegates for the Chicago Teachers Union voted Wednesday night to accept a tentative agreement with the nation’s third-largest school district but say they won’t come back without Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s commitment.
The union is encouraging members to fill the streets outside City Hall on Thursday, hoping to pressure Lightfoot into accepting its terms. The impasse cancelled classes for an 11th day for more than 300,000 students.
Lightfoot says she won’t accept the union’s demand. She’s said throughout the strike that she would not extend the school year
CTU President Jesse Sharkey says Lightfoot’s refusal feels like punishment for teachers and will hurt students.
