The Chicago teachers strike marked its 11th day of canceled classes Thursday, even after a tentative agreement was reached the day before.
The Chicago Teachers Union's leadership announced Wednesday that a "tentative deal" was reached with Chicago Public Schools, but cautioned that the strike still remained in effect as negotiations continued over making up school days missed during the work stoppage.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday said making up all missed time from the strike was a "nonstarter."
"We cannot allow the CTU leadership to continue to make repeated, new demands and move the goalpost unilaterally and repeatedly," Lightfoot said.
Moments before a meeting of CTU's House of Delegates, the union said in a statement that it was prepared to take a tentative agreement to its leadership for "consideration" but only if "CPS and the mayor agree to make up lost school days at the end of the year."
"Why is the mayor taking out her anger over the strike on CPS students by reducing instructional time?" CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates tweeted. "The CTU may have reached a monumental agreement and want to convene our HoD to suspend the strike."
While the agreement was announced just after 8:30 p.m. Wednesday, the CTU says that no agreement has been reached on making up lost school days, and planned to rally at City Hall Thursday morning to encourage Mayor Lori Lightfoot to change her stance on the issue.
CPS CEO Janice Jackson said "there's really no way" to make up all of the missed school days.
"The only way to make up 11 days is to really disrupt families' plans that have already been made," she said.
CTU President Jesse Sharkey said on Thursday, however, that he recognizes making up 11 days "probably isn't feasible" and he plans on discussing it with Lightfoot to find a more appropriate number.
"I’m not trying to extend this strike indefinitely in order to get more instructional time that doesn’t make much sense," he said.
"I will discuss it and we will have to make a compromise about a number of days that makes sense," he added.
More than 25,000 teachers and support staff in CTU, as well as roughly 7,500 school employees in Service Employees International Union Local 73, went on strike Oct. 17, canceling school for more than 300,000 students in the country's third-largest school district. SEIU announced it approved an agreement with the district on Wednesday.
