[ad_1]
“Everyone in America should support you in this strike,” Warren said. “You fight for the children of this city and for the city of this country.”
WATCH: Elizabeth Warren joins CTU rally on West SideThe Democratic presidential hopeful from Massachusetts arrived at DePriest Elementary on the city’s Far West Side to walk the picket line with teachers, shining an even brighter light on this strike in the national spotlight.
Warren says if elected president, she would make an $800 billion investment in public education with a wealth tax.
RELATED: Chicago Teachers Strike 2019: Where to find childcare when schools are closed
Republican National Committee Spokesperson Kevin Knoth said in a statement “Teachers should be wary of any advice Elizabeth Warren may be relaying today in Chicago. From lying about being fired as a teacher to her newest astronomical $800 billion tax scheme to fund education services, Warren’s words should never be taken at face value.”
Meanwhile, negotiations between the teachers and the city resumed at 10 a.m. after a setback Monday.
WATCH: Mayor Lightfoot speaks on 6th day of teacher strike
In a letter, Mayor Lori Lightfoot asked the teachers to stop their strike but still come to bargaining sessions, a request that offended the union since the union says there’s no language in the contract that would enforce smaller class sizes or adding nurses and social workers to every school.
“Yesterday, negotiations took a turn for the worse after a productive weekend in which we thought we started to see where we were going to land. If we hadn’t landed yet, we thought we could see how we were going to get there,” CTU President Jesse Sharkey said Tuesday morning. “The board was essentially following what the mayor was saying in public, sent a letter to this effect, and then the negotiators at the table started saying the exact same thing, which is ‘we’re out of money.’”
Lightfoot stopped by the Marwen Arts Center Tuesday morning to visit students affected by the teacher’s strike.
“We have been making progress, not enough, not fast enough, but we felt like it was important to let the union and let the public know what’s actually happening and the consequences for our young people and ask them in good faith to come back and continue bargaining in good faith, they’ve obviously rejected that,” Mayor Lightfoot said.
She said enough is enough, there’s no further excuse to keep kids out of school and is accusing the union of raising more issues from more pay to free vision and dental.
The mayor said the size of CTU’s 40-person bargaining team has slowed things down. The union said it will have a smaller team at the table when talks resume in the morning.
RELATED: Chicago teachers strike adds stress for high school students applying to college
CTU said pay is still an issue especially for the lowest paid school workers and special educators and even veteran teachers. They are also fighting for more teacher prep time. The mayor said CPS has already agreed to a nurse and social worker in every school and said she put in writing concessions on class size and staffing. But the CTU said there’s no way to enforce what CPS is promising.
The mayor and CPS released a statement Monday night, saying:
“Tomorrow, for the fourth straight school day, students from throughout the city won’t be participating in the athletic competitions they’ve earned the right to compete in, won’t be preparing their college applications with trusted school staff, and won’t be in classrooms with the teachers who hold the keys to their success. We must fix that immediately and end this strike. Real progress has been made on the key contract issues that CTU identified, and written proposals to boost staffing and support overcrowded classrooms have been exchanged. We were encouraged today by the improved pace of bargaining and substantive discussions on key issues, so it is now deeply concerning to hear that CTU is pulling members of its bargaining team away from the negotiating table tomorrow at this crucial juncture. Our full team will be ready first thing tomorrow morning to continue working toward the fair contract our teachers, students, and families deserve.”
Twenty-six thousand CPS teachers and 8,000 support staff workers including custodians, special education assistants and bus aides are on strike. It is the first CPS teacher strike since 2012.
RELATED: CPS state playoff chances in jeopardy amid continuing teachers strike
The city has offered teachers a 16 percent raise over five years as both sides are still at odds with no end in sight with a fourth day of no classes.
Copyright © 2019 WLS-TV. All Rights Reserved.
[ad_2]
Source link