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September 13, 2012

Chicago teachers on strike
Chicago teachers on strike

Chicago Teachers Strike Nation’s Third-Largest School System

41.6% of Students are African-American

Teachers employed by the Chicago Public Schools, the nation’s third-largest school system, went on strike on Monday, one week after schools opened for the new year. Schools opened September 4, the Tuesday after Labor Day.

More than 404,000 students attend the Chicago Public Schools, and 41.6 percent of them are African American.

The labor action by the 21,320 teachers is the first strike by the district in 25 years.The 1987 walkout lasted 19 days.

Karen Lewis, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, told reporters during a televised-news conference on Sunday night that the union and school board could not reach an agreement on several issues. The union told members to report to their schools at 6:30 a.m. Monday to begin picketing.

CPS and union officials were close on wages. School officials offered a 16 percent raise spread over four years. The two sides, however, were far apart on other issues, including the makeup of the teacher-evaluation system. This would allow school officials to dismiss teachers whose students did not improve their scores on standardized tests in two years. School board officials said they negotiated the agreement in collaboration with the teachers union and the two sides settled the deal in March.

The Chicago Public Schools does not have a good track record with black students, particularly black boys. According to a study by UCLA, the Chicago Public Schools annually suspends more than 18 percent of its black students.

Schools in Illinois annually have issued out-of-school suspensions to 25 percent of their African-American students, which is highest proportion in the nation.

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