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School closings

As CPS prepares to close a record number of schools, the fate of students and communities is in question.

Chicago Teachers Union

September 04, 2012

Mayor Rahm Emanuel decided Monday to cut short his trip to the Democratic National Convention, as pressure mounted for him to stay home to try to avert Chicago’s first teachers strike in 25 years, the Sun-Times reports this morning.

August 30, 2012

The Chicago Teachers Union’s House of Delegates voted unanimously on Thursday for a Sept. 10 strike, union leaders said. Cheering was heard seconds before hundreds of delegates began streaming out of the meeting. “We have done everything that has been asked of us,” CTU President Karen Lewis said. “We do not want to strike, but apparently the board does.”

But district spokeswoman Becky Carroll says "We have continued to make progress over the last couple days. If there was truly an impasse we wouldn't be meeting every single day through the holiday weekend and into next week."

August 29, 2012

Teachers could walk out as soon as the second week of September following the Chicago Teachers Union’s issuance of a 10-day notice of intent to strike on Wednesday. A strike would be the first in 25 years.

August 24, 2012

Chicago Teachers Union leaders said Friday morning they won’t file a strike notice today or Saturday, assuring the on-time opening of school, if not its continuation.

However, CTU spokeswoman Stephanie Gadlin left open the possibility that they would issue the 10-day warning Sunday or early next week.

In a switch from earlier in the week, she said contract negotiations were in full throttle at CTU headquarters on Friday.

August 22, 2012

Though they were not required to, Chicago Teachers Union delegates voted to give their leaders discretion to issue a 10-day notice of intent to strike."That is how we do things," said CTU President Karen Lewis in explaining why she looked to delegates for the go ahead to give notice. "We are a democracy."

But more than anything, the move alerts CPS leadership and the public that a strike is a growing threat.

If the CTU wants to strike on September 4, the first day of school, notice would have to be given by Saturday.

August 20, 2012

As the deadline nears for Chicago Teachers Union to give notice it could strike on the first day of school, teachers are spending the week holding informational pickets at year-round schools and CPS is making contingency plans.

Friday will be ten days before schools’ planned Sept. 4 start date, and the legal deadline for CTU to issue a legally required 10-day notice of intent to strike. The decision will likely be made at Wednesday’s House of Delegates meeting at 4:30 p.m at Lane Technical High School.

August 20, 2012

Even as labor negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools continue, the union has started printing “On Strike” protest signs, although no decision has been made whether or not teachers, school clinicians and paraprofessionals will issue a work stoppage in coming days, a press released issued Friday stated.

August 16, 2012

With no contract agreement in sight, the clock winding down and the Board of Education refusing to take "CTU's contract proposals seriously," Chicago teachers may need to strike, writes union member Kenzo Shibata on the Huffington Post.

August 09, 2012

With the start of the regular-track school year quickly approaching, CTU President Karen Lewis is sounding the warning bell that the union and the district still need to resolve many issues before a strike can be ruled out.

Without some movement, "we are preparing for a strike," she says. “You prepare for war, pray for peace.”

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