Obama's Chicago: Teachers Still On Strike

Obama And Friends Wait To Go To School In Chicago

 From the Chicago Tribune: What was thought to be a done deal unraveled Sunday as Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis was unable to sell union delegates on ending the teachers strike, likely leaving more than 350,000 Chicago Public Schools students locked out of the classroom at least two more days.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel late Sunday called the walkout "illegal" and pledged to seek an injunction in court to force an end to the city's first teachers strike in a quarter century.
Delegates had met with Lewis for nearly three hours to review the tentative contract that had been brokered after months of negotiation, but ultimately extended the strike instead.
"They're not happy with the agreement. They'd like it to be a lot better for us than it is," Lewis said. "This is the deal we got. This is not a good deal by any stretch of the imagination, not (compared) to what our members are (used) to having."
Delegates expressed frustration that they hadn't been given more time to consider the lengthy contract revisions and said they would meet with their members Tuesday, after the Jewish holidays....
Emanuel called upon CPS officials "to explore every action possible" to return students to school. He has maintained for over a week that the two major sticking points in negotiations — evaluations and the ability to recall teachers who have been laid off — are not legal grounds for a work stoppage.
"I will not stand by while the children of Chicago are played as pawns in an internal dispute within a union," Emanuel said in a released statement.
It would appear the earliest that the district could get an injunction to get students back in school would be for Tuesday classes.  http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-chicago-teachers-union-meets-on-contract-today-20120916,0,4830609.story
The union got a nice pay raise that most of the parents that send kids to school could only dream of and the CPS administration promised more than 500 new teachers added to the bankrupt school district among the other things the teachers got into their contract.
This strike is nothing but about the union and the members.  The union has said "screw the kids and their parents".
It would be nice if the union thugs will be fired ala the air traffic controllers who were fired under Ronald Reagan, but strikes are legal in Illinois. 
If they were given a warning and said they were fired, most teachers would be back on the job yesterday and those who didn't report, they could be easily be replaced by unemployed teachers who have either been laid off from other districts or unable to find a job because school districts are not hiring.
But in the end, there is no end in sight and where is Obama?   Still staying out of the picture even though he has interjected himself  in other local issues and Chicago is his hometown (one of many).
As a teacher, I am embarrassed by the actions of the Chicago teachers union and their national union, American Federation of Teachers.  Thugs, all of them.