Chicago teacher strike ends after 11 days

CHICAGO — The longest Chicago teachers strike in decades ended Thursday, sending students back to classes Friday, after one final standoff between the city and the Chicago Teachers Union over makeup days.

Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced the end of the walkout Thursday afternoon following a lengthy closed-door meeting with CTU officials. Lightfoot agreed to making up five days lost to the strike, a final sticking point for the union.

As of late Thursday, Chicago Public Schools has not yet determined when the five makeup days will be scheduled.

The strike, which outlasted the latest major CTU work stoppage in 2012 by several days, was officially suspended.

Lightfoot praised the deal as “historic” but lamented that the strike had been “a hardship on way too many people across our city, particularly our young people,” and that it was important to her that classes restart.

“Enough is enough, and so in the spirit of compromise we agreed,” Lightfoot said. “It was a hard-fought discussion. It took us a lot of time to get there. But I think this is the right thing ultimately for our city, and I’m glad that this phase is over.”

The strike began Oct. 17 and took 25,000 CTU members off the job and about 300,000 students out of school. It was the longest against the Chicago Board of Education since a 19-day walkout in 1987.

Now rank-and-file members must vote to ratify or reject the agreement, and the Chicago Board of Education must also sign off on the new deal. CTU President Jesse Sharkey said he’s “not going to say it’s going to be a slam-dunk.”

“Members of the CTU get the final say on that contract,” Sharkey said.

The union representing 7,000 support staff, Service Employees International Union Local 73, also ended their solidarity strike Thursday.