Possible CTU Strike Leaves Parents Scrambling To Make Child-Care Plans
This leaves many families in limbo, scrambling to make plans if school is not in session, and some come at a cost.
Watch CBS News
This leaves many families in limbo, scrambling to make plans if school is not in session, and some come at a cost.
The Chicago Teachers Union is just three days away from going on strike if a new contract isn't reached with the city. The teachers plan to hold an indoor rally and then march through the city Monday afternoon but say they're not expecting any negotiations before then.
High school athletes could be on the sidelines if Chicago Public Schools teachers go on strike.
The Chicago Teachers Union has yet to reach an agreement with Chicago Public Schools, but CTU officials said they've opened the way to a "path" to an agreement.
The union, however, has called the city's latest offer "a joke." "We're talking about an offer that frankly was insulting to us," CTU President Jesse Sharkey said.
Teachers want a 15% pay raise over three years. The city is offering teachers a 16% raise over five years. Teachers also want smaller class sizes, claiming some have as many as 40 students.
"Oversized kindergarten classrooms, 37 in a classroom, is detrimental to the safety, health and cognitive development of our students."
The Chicago Teachers Union took issue with class sizes Wednesday, while Chicago Public Schools officials said they are working to combat the problem – as the days count down to a possible teachers' strike.
In a statement Tuesday night, Lightfoot said that the union's contract with CPS is "not the appropriate place for the city to legislate its affordable housing policy."
With nine days until a possible teacher strike, both the city and the Chicago Teachers' Union are blaming one another for the lack of progress.
Despite the penalties, parents are still reporting several busing issues so far this year.
Some people in Norwood Park are not happy about a preschool Chicago Public Schools is planning to build in the area.
"CTU leadership is not exhibiting the sense of urgency needed to move these negotiations forward in a substantive way to avoid a strike," Mayor Lightfoot said.
With the threat of a strike, some members of the Chicago Teachers Union are making their push for more pay public.
"There's zero plan to make up any days that might be lost as a result of a work stoppage," Mayor Lori Lightfoot said of a possible teachers' strike on Oct. 17.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public Schools Chief Executive Officer Janice K. Jackson said Wednesday that city schools will be kept buildings open in the event of a teachers' strike.
"They throw this kid out on the street ... and they leave him there," attorney Dan Herbert said.
Staff members from Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Park District hand-delivered strike notices to Mayor Lori Lightfoot's office at City Hall Tuesday.
Union leaders and CPS officials were meeting at CTU headquarters in the West Town neighborhood, hoping to agree to a contract both sides can support.
A Chicago Public Schools parent could not understand why her emails were not getting to her son's case manager.
Chicago teachers are voting on whether to authorize a strike next month as contract negotiations continue in the nation's third-largest school district.
A Chicago Public Schools security guard was forced to resign back in 2009 after an investigation found that he sexually exploited a student. But he wasn't charged for 10 years after that.
Cedric Nolen resigned as principal of Colin Powell Middle School last week, and students in Matteson said he shouldn't have been hired in the first place.
The Chicago Public Schools have "inexcusably failed" to protect students. That's the finding from a federal investigation looking at case after case of sex assault and abuse.
Chicago Public Schools "inexcusably failed, for quite some time" to protect students who were sexually harrassed or abused by CPS teachers and employees, federal education officials said Thursday.
A retired judge who lost her law license for fleecing her Tuskegee Airman uncle used the money she stole to buy bitcoin for herself, court records show.
From guest appearances to his latest hits, watch parties for Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime performance were held across Chicago.
Joliet police said Joseph D. Johnson, 29, was released from medical care at Loyola Medical Center in Maywood on Sunday morning.
Village President Fitzgerald Roberts said that the repairs on Paige were completed at around 3 p.m.
The Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots Sunday to win the 2026 Super Bowl.
The footage is included in a video that promotes false claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged against Mr. Trump.
The FBI has arrested "one of the key participants" behind the attack on U.S. facilities in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 that killed four Americans.
A new push to pass a GOP elections bill known as the SAVE America Act is underway in Congress, but Democrats warn the proposal could disenfranchise millions of eligible voters.
As immigration sweeps expand nationwide, the work of justifying detentions is overwhelming federal prosecutors, who are being forced to sideline a range of other cases in order to keep pace.
Marimar Martinez, the Chicago woman shot five times by a Border Patrol agent in October, plans to attend President Trump's State of the Union address to Congress later this month, according to her attorney.
This week marks Identity Theft Awareness Week, and Illinois Comptroller Susana Mendoza emphasized some safety tips Monday for avoiding and dealing with identity theft.
A controversial data center in Naperville, Illinois, could be the cause to pack a city council meeting there on Tuesday night.
Police in the west Chicago suburb of Geneva are warning of a scam involving spoofed phone numbers.
Protesters on Tuesday were cranking up the heat on Peoples Gas over a recently proposed rate hike that would add an additional $10 to $11 a month to utility bills.
A lawsuit filed late last month took Chicago-based McDonald's to task over the McRib sandwich, calling its name a form of false advertising.
Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital announced this week that it is planning to open a new pediatric hospital in the west Chicago suburb of Downers Grove.
It has been nearly six years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, and one of the many questions doctors are still working to answer concerns the long-term effects.
Leaders from Cook County, the Illinois Department of Human Services, and the Greater Chicago Food Depository denounced changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program on Wednesday.
The University of Chicago Medicine Comprehensive Cancer Center has received a grant from The Ralph Lauren Corporate Foundation for a new cancer center.
Chicago's Lurie Children's Hospital said Tuesday that it is no longer initiating gender-affirming medical treatment for minors.
A Near West Side diner known for drawing in Blackhawks fans and players is up for sale.
January may be the coldest time of the year, but Chicago is already looking forward to summer farmers' markets.
A development proposal issued this month calls for the replacement of a building housing a Giordiano's pizzeria in Chicago's Lakeview neighborhood with a new mixed-use building with 28 residential units.
United Airlines flight attendants picketed outside Chicago's Willis Tower Thursday morning as they fought for a new contract.
WSCR-AM, 670 The Score, will begin a simulcast on 104.3 FM next month.
Brad Arnold, the founder and lead singer of the 3 Doors Down has died following "his courageous battle with cancer," the rock band announced Saturday on social media.
Bad Bunny took the stage at halftime for the 2026 Super Bowl. Here's who else performed at Super Bowl 60.
Gamers across the world can now recreate drone strikes in Ukraine from the comfort of their own home, with this newly released game.
The members of Ratboys were teenagers when they met by chance, and now in their 30s, the Chicago band formed by two college friends almost two decades ago appears to be on the brink of something big.
Chuck Negron, a founding member of Three Dog Night whose lead vocals powered a string of hits for one of the top rock acts of the late 1960s and early '70s has died. He was 83.
Lawton Wilkerson's loved ones are planning to file another lawsuit against the disbarred judge, continuing their fight to get back the money she took.
Some observers speculated the pontiff might travel to the United Nations general assembly since he's been so outspoken about several world conflicts.
Video captured the moment as the ride called the "Tsunami" falls with dozens of people onboard.
Highs will primarily be in the upper 30s and lower 40s, giving way to a good February thaw.
Dragon and lion dances helped usher in the year of the horse, known or energy, passion, and action in the Chinese zodiac.
A retired judge who lost her law license for fleecing her Tuskegee Airman uncle used the money she stole to buy bitcoin for herself, court records show.
A mother and her boyfriend will appear at a detention hearing on Monday after her 8-year-old son was found dead in their home from apparent abuse and malnourishment.
From guest appearances to his latest hits, watch parties for Bad Bunny's Super Bowl halftime performance were held across Chicago.
Joliet police said Joseph D. Johnson, 29, was released from medical care at Loyola Medical Center in Maywood on Sunday morning.
Village President Fitzgerald Roberts said that the repairs on Paige were completed at around 3 p.m.
Fewer Chicago kids are getting the dental care they need, and some dentists are blaming Chicago Public Schools.
Cynthia Eason recounted the moment Chicago police officers raided her family's home in 2018.
Water bills could be going up in several Chicago suburbs and other parts of Illinois, as Illinois American Water seeks a rate increase to fund infrastructure improvements.
The case involves a Chicago grandmother, her daughter, and her four grandchildren, who all said that Chicago police officers pointed guns at them during the botched raid.
Former Mayor Rahm Emanuel no longer will have to testify about an alleged "code of silence" at the Chicago Police Department, after a federal judge reversed an earlier ruling that would have allowed him to take the stand in a lawsuit over a botched police raid.
The Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots Sunday to win the 2026 Super Bowl.
Lindsey Vonn, who came out of retirement to compete in the Milano Cortina Games, is in stable condition after her crash.
Not sure where to watch the 2026 Super Bowl live? There are multiple ways to watch the game for free today. Here's how.
Family and former coaches expressed pride knowing that players will be representing their communities on one of the biggest stages in sports.
Illinois led 39-35 at halftime after six ties and nine lead changes and was ahead by nine points early in the second half.
Police in Joliet, Illinois, were searching Sunday for a man who held up a cellphone store this weekend.
A woman was in custody after another woman was slashed in Chicago's Roseland neighborhood this weekend.
Local and federal authorities said "investigators are actively inspecting the information provided in the message for its authenticity" regarding the disappearance of Nancy Guthrie.
A South Side community came together on Friday, hoping for justice after a woman was shot and killed while her baby was in the back seat of their car earlier this week.
A Chicago city employee was found shot to death Friday morning inside an apartment in the West Ridge neighborhood.