Accusing Democratic Mayor Lori Lightfoot of rejecting contract proposals that would create better public school conditions for educators and students, the 25,000-member Chicago Teachers Union went on strike Thursday to push for “pay and benefits that give us dignity and respect.”
In addition to teachers, more than 7,000 teacher aides, security guards, and custodians—members of Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 73—will join CTU’s strike.
The goal of the walk-out in the nation’s third-largest school district is “to win—in writing, in an enforceable contract—learning and working conditions that respect educators and provide Chicago’s students with the schools they deserve,” the union said in a statement Wednesday night.
“Educators are fighting for conditions that include smaller class sizes, adequate staffing—from social workers and school nurses to librarians and teachers for English language learners and special education students—and living wages for paraprofessionals, some of whom earn less than $30,000/year,” said CTU.
Classes for around 300,000 Chicago Public School students were canceled on Thursday in anticipation of the strike, which follows months of tense contract negotiations. Teachers and school workers are expected to begin taking to the picket lines at 6:30 am CT ahead of a mass rally and march in the afternoon.
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