The Stakes in Chicago's Teachers Strike :: Frederick M. Hess

The Stakes in Chicago's Teachers Strike :: Frederick M. Hess:

The Stakes in Chicago's Teachers Strike

by Frederick M. Hess  •  Sep 13, 2012 at 9:09 am
Cross-posted from Education Week

Reports this morning suggest that CPS and the CTU may be closing in on a deal in Chicago. MSNBC reported that both sides seemed to suggest that schools may reopen for Friday (see here). If they get this resolved in the next couple of days, the fallout will be muffled by the media storm ignited by the murderous rampage in Libya. At this point, I'm betting the most likely scenario is a face-saving deal that allows both sides to claim victory, while kicking the details of teacher eval and rehiring over to some CTU-CPS bureaucratic collaboration. I'd deem that a pretty weak return on hundreds of millions in salary increases, but the cognescenti cheered the vague pledges reaped by the $4 billion spent on Race to the Top -- so I'm sure it'll still play well for Rahm, while mollifying the CTU.

Now, it's possible that they won't get the deal done that quickly, or that public sentiment will decide there