Chicago Public School students are out of class for a 10th day as contract talks between striking teachers and city officials fail again.
WGN-TV reports that Mayor Lori Lightfoot has offered a new deal to end the strike, but it's unclear if Chicago Teachers Union leaders are willing to consider it.
Lightfoot says the latest offer to the union includes:
- 16% pay raise over five years, which the district says would raise the average teacher's salary to almost $100,000 a year
- Commitment to putting a nurse and a social worker in every school
- $35 million to reducing class sizes, which is $10 million more than the previous offer.
However, the union says it's looking for an agreement on a wide range of issues including a demand that Lightfoot support state legislation to elect rather than appoint the district's school board.
"Are we really keeping our kids out of class unless I agree to support the CTU's full political agenda wholesale?" Lightfoot says. "If the CTU wants a deal, there's a deal to be had right now on the table."
If an agreement is reached, union leaders said they are ready to vote on ending the strike as early as Wednesday afternoon.
Some 25,000 teachers, as well as 7,500 members of Service Employees International Union Local 73, began their strike against Chicago schools on Oct. 17.
Earlier this week, the district reached a tentative deal with Service Employees International Union Local 73 that includes a raise for special education assistants, security guards, bus drivers and custodians.
