The Outcomes of the Chicago Teachers Union Strike of 2011 (Essay Sample)

The Outcomes of the Chicago Teachers Union Strike of 2011
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The Outcomes of the Chicago Teachers Union Strike of 2011
The Chicago teachers’ strike of 2012 was the first in over 25 years. The strike started on September 10th, 2012 and ended 7 days later. Some of the issues that the teachers and the leadership of Chicago did not agree on included; percentage pay rise, job security for teachers, health benefits, length of school days among others (McCune, 2012). The strike would go on to inform a national debate on the plight of teachers and quality of education in public schools. A few days later, when the strike was finally over, none of the parties at the negotiating table managed to get all that they wanted. Compromises had to be made. Some notable outcomes of the strike included; teachers got a pay rise of 17% instead of 30% over the next four years, they also kept their health benefits, the impact of performance of students in standardized exams on evaluation of teachers was reduced from 45 to 30%, the issue of performance-based pay was also done away with, teachers were protected against bullying from supervisors, school day and year were also extended, the demand by teachers that laid-off teachers be given more priority than others when opportunities for jobs arose was also crossed out (Pearson, 2012).