The Buckingham

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Chicago teachers are currently on strike, the first for the city in 25 years.

The strike started on Sept. 10 after the previous weekend’s last ditch negotiations between the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools failed to produce a new agreement.

The Chicago Teachers Union represents more than 29,000 teachers.  The Chicago school district is the third-largest one in the U.S.

Negotiations between the teachers union and the public schools were stuck on two issues: a benefit package for union members and teacher evaluations that only focus on standardized test scores.

The teachers union is against the fact that the evaluation system emphasized only students’ standardized test scored and how it unfairly penalized instructors.

With teachers out of the classrooms, 144 schools remain open from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. to provide care, breakfast and lunch for students.

Negotiations between the teachers union and the school district should resume soon.