Chicago schools will reopen after deal reached between union, city

Chicago schools will reopen after deal reached between union, city

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Lori E. Lightfoot, the Chicago mayor, announced on Twitter late Monday that public school children in the city will be able to return to classes on Wednesday after leaders from the teachers union approved a plan with the district.

“After a productive day at the bargaining table, I am pleased to report, CTU will end their work stoppage,” the mayor tweeted. “CPS [Chicago Public Schools] put a great proposal on the table that both bargaining teams discussed in detail today.”

Mayor Lori Lightfoot speaks on Jan. 4, 2022, at Chicago Police headquarters. (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images) (Brian Cassella/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

The public discord between the teachers union and the city was on display up until hours before the agreement was announced. Jesse Sharkey, the president of the teachers union, told the Chicago Sun-Times that Lightfooot “is being relentless, but she’s being relentlessly stupid, relentlessly stubborn.”

The deal, which would have students in class Wednesday and teachers a day earlier, still requires approval by the union’s full 25,000 members, according to the union. The union did not immediately respond to an email from Fox News.

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Lightfoot accused teachers of “abandoning” students by refusing to teach in-person. She also shot back at the union president.

“If I had a dollar for every time some privileged, clouted white guy called me stupid, I’d be a bazillionaire,” Lightfoot, who is Black, told WLS-TV.

The Associated Press contributed to this report