![]() By Carolina Aceves and Geovanna Estrada Staff Writers “Hey hey. Ho ho. Rahm Emanuel has got to go” was one of the more notable phrases that teachers chanted during their week long strike. On Monday, September 10th, approximately 26,000 Chicago Public School teachers picketed outside their schools as a result of failed contract negotiations between the Chicago Teacher’s Union and Chicago Public Schools. “Enough is enough,” said Karen Lewis, president if the CTU, and for the first time in 25 years, 350,000 students were out of school. All around the city, teachers, staff members, school nurses, and even parents and students were picketing outside their schools and downtown at the Board of Education’s headquarters. All dressed in red and carrying picket signs, they chanted and demanded that their voice be heard about the remaining issues at the negotiation table. The issues were: classroom conditions, health benefits, teacher layoffs, and last but certainly not least, teacher evaluations. For several days, the CTU and CPS were at odds, and the remarks against each other became more resentful by the day. Meanwhile, Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s patience was growing thin. Although he insisted that the negotiations be done at the table, parents all around the city were voicing their concerns about their kids not having a safe place to go during the day. This was a major inconvenience to many families across the city, especially ones with young children. Older students, however, leaned more towards the teachers’ side in this whole predicament. “I was definitely in favor of it,” Franco Landa, a senior at Hubbard High school commented. “I felt the reasons to strike were totally justified, and I was in agreement with them as well.” On Sunday, September 16, CTU’s House of Delegates turned down their latest proposal. “They felt pressured,” Karen Lewis commented to the media. Therefore, they asked for more time and scheduled a second meeting on Tuesday. Rahm Emanuel, however, didn't want to give them the extra time. On the following Monday, the mayor filed an injunction, asking a state court of law to end the strike and force teachers to go back to schools. Unfortunately for him, the court judge put it off until Wednesday. The need of an injunction was quickly put to rest when the CTU House of Delegates agreed to the proposed contract and ended the seven day teacher strike. The Chicago Teacher’s Union strike motivated other school districts in the state of Illinois to start a strike of their own. Evergreen Park, Lake Forest, Highland Park, and Prairie Grove had to cancel classes due to a teacher strike when they disagreed with their own contract talks. On October 11th, 2012, Jean-Claude Brizard, Rahm Emanuel’s handpicked choice for CPS CEO, resigned by “mutual agreement”. He is to be permanently replaced by Barbara Byrd-Bennett.
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