The Chicago Teachers Union has agreed to suspend its seven-day strike and return to work. Classes will resume for more than 350,000 students on Wednesday. This does not mean they have agreed to the contract submitted by the Chicago Public Schools, only that they will complete the strike action, while reserving the right to walk [...]

The Chicago Public Schools system formally sought an injunction against the weeklong teachers strike, imploring a judge to order Chicago Teachers Union members back to work while negotiations continue on a contract. The injunction order claims that the CTU is illegally striking over non-economic issues, in violation of state statutes, and that the strike creates [...]

As the Chicago teachers strike continues for at least a couple more days, I’m struck by how the event, and the associated commentary, is forcing a rethink about the measures we use in the popular mythology for student achievement and teacher assessment. Because the education space has become so dominated by corporate-led interests of the [...]

Chicago public school students will not return to the classroom on Monday, as the Chicago Teachers Union decided to take more time to mull over a contract proposal. Students will not return to class until Wednesday at the earliest, according to the union. The delegates could vote to end the strike as early as Tuesday, [...]

The Chicago Tribune reports that a tentative deal has been reached in the teachers strike that would resume classes as early as Monday for 350,000 students. The union’s House of Delegates will review the proposal at a meeting this afternoon and is likely to vote to end the five-day-old teachers strike on Sunday after final [...]

Everyone continues to expect a conclusion to the Chicago teachers strike today. “Number crunching” delayed an announcement last night, but CTU President Karen Lewis still scheduled a meeting with the union’s House of Delegates at 2pm CT today, where they could give preliminary approval to any deal. But labor will rally at 12pm CT in [...]

The Chicago teachers strike could end by Monday, CTU President Karen Lewis now projects. It’s hard to get a handle on where the concessions have been made. We know that raises would be restructured as per union policy and health insurance rates would remain the same, pending union participation in wellness programs. In addition, the [...]

The Hill reports today on House liberals pushing back on any rush to a grand bargain that cuts social insurance programs in the process. Members of the Congressional Progressive Caucus (CPC) are warning that they’ll fight to kill any budget package that would cut Medicare coverage, Social Security benefits and safety net programs for the [...]

The Chicago Teachers Union strike could end as early as tomorrow. Both sides reported progress in yesterday’s bargaining session, and hopes are high that today’s session will complete whatever outstanding issues exist. Since strikes are technically confined to bargaining issues like pay and benefits, we only have the barest sketch of the emerging deal. The [...]

AFT President Randi Weingarten’s op-ed for USA Today makes the overlooked point that Chicago teachers are striking, not necessarily for better pay as it has been claimed in most of the traditional media (complete with haughty stories about those lucky duckie rich teachers), but for better schools. The issues that teachers are fighting for go [...]

Today’s statistics showing a continued decline in median income and the rise of US inequality has clear links to the crisis of mass unemployment that has gripped this country since 2008. Jobs have not come back to a serious degree, and those that have are of poorer quality with lower pay. This is the issue [...]