Chicago teachers await vote that could end strike

CHICAGO (AP) – As they awaited a vote that could end Chicago’s first teachers strike in 25 years, teachers were balancing their desire to get back to class with lingering doubts and questions about a proposed contract that could mean major changes to their pay and job security.

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said she expected union delegates to have a possibly lengthy debate when they reconvene Tuesday afternoon, two days after refusing to end the strike because they hadn’t seen all the contract details.

Union leaders say trust has become a critical factor, given the strained relations with Mayor Rahm Emanuel and the school board, and that Emanuel’s effort to get a judge to order the teachers back to class could become an obstacle.

“I’m desperately wanting to get back to my lab experiments with my kids,” said Heath Davis, a seventh-grade science teacher who was picketing outside Goethe Elementary School on the city’s West Side.

Davis was optimistic that Tuesday’s vote could end the strike that has kept 350,000 students out of the classroom.Read more on NewsOK.com

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