Teachers Strike Day 5: Will A Deal Get Done Today?

By Chuck Sudo in News on Sep 14, 2012 2:40PM

Photo courtesy Chicago Teachers Union Local 1.

Chicago School Board President David Vitale and Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis have voiced optimism the past couple days that a deal was near that would end the five-day teachers strike and send teachers back to work. But it’s the difference in their levels of enthusiasm that tells the story.

Vitale is taking the glass-half-hull approach. He told assembled media after negotiations ended at 12:45 a.m. this morning “we’re really closing a lot of gaps” and expressed confidence that schools would reopen Monday. Lewis would only tell reporters, “I hope he knows something I don’t know.”

The two sides appear to have reached a compromise on teacher evaluations, one of the main obstacles to a deal. Huffington Post Education reporter Joy Resmovits said that standardized testing would account for 25 percent of teachers’ evaluations, the minimum required under state law. The School Board had previously proposed standardized testing account for 40 percent. WBEZ said Vitale and CPS is working on an "interesting plan" regarding the financial implications regarding recall of previously laid-off teachers.

Where the two sides are currently in disagreement is the length of a new deal. Resmovits reported CTU wanted a two-year deal and was willing to settle for three, while CPS wants a four-year deal. The teachers union is lobbying for the shorter deal because they don’t trust Mayor Rahm Emanuel after the School Board used a “reasonable expectations” clause to rescind a promised 4 percent pay raise last year.

Regardless of whether a deal is in place, CTU’s Board of Delegates will still meet at 2 p.m. today for an update on negotiations with the school district. This is important because if a deal is reached before, the Board of Delegates will vote on whether to accept it or end the strike.