Chicago Public Schools said it won't seek to discipline employees who take part in a one-day strike Friday, but district officials said they will launch a legal challenge to what they've maintained is an unlawful walkout by the Chicago Teachers Union.
"Our lawyers are finishing their work today," CPS CEO Forrest Claypool said during a news conference at district headquarters Thursday. "We're going to take some action to address the illegality of the strike."
The district said it would provide further details on its legal approach Friday. Claypool did elaborate on why the district didn't go to court to try to block the walkout, which the CTU says it is staging to draw attention to contract talks and the need for more revenue for schools from state government.
"We needed more time to exercise the legal process to truly get an injunction," Claypool said.
"And the leader of the CTU announced on television this week that her members would not honor a court-ordered injunction anyway from a judge, which again, just, I think, sort of magnifies the lawlessness of this action," he said, referring to union President Karen Lewis.
The district has already said that CTU members who don't show up for work won't be paid, and that schools will be open for teachers who do want to cross picket lines.
"We welcome teachers who want to work," district Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson said Thursday.
"I also understand this is a hard decision for many of our teachers, and I have a message to those teachers as well: If teachers are not able to come to work, we will not seek mass discipline against the rank-and-file teachers," Jackson said.
In addition to early morning pickets at schools, CTU and allied groups are planning a full day of teach-ins and rallies at sites around the city prior to what's expected to be a massive rally in the Loop during the evening rush hour.
Jackson said Friday is "not a student attendance day," meaning children won't be penalized for not coming to school. Some 40 athletic competitions scheduled for Friday are canceled, Jackson said, though contests scheduled for Saturday and Sunday will continue as planned.
More than 100 Chicago schools -- along with Park District buildings and city libraries -- will be open to students shut out of the classroom. Roughly 750 of the district's bureaucrats will be sent to district-operated contingency sites, Jackson said.
The district encouraged parents interested in using one of the sites to register online in advance, though CPS said that is not required and that no students will be turned away. More information for parents is available at www.cps.edu/april1.
"We believe that most parents probably will exercise other options," Claypool said. "All we can do is have these options available and to make them as convenient as possible and make sure the plan is as robust as possible."
CTU's one-day walkout, while in part intended to bring attention to differences with the district over a contract, is an effort to mobilize pressure on Gov. Bruce Rauner and state lawmakers to approve legislation that would send money to public education and social service agencies.
Talks to replace a contract that expired June 30 have been going on for more than a year. Those negotiations are now in a final phase, which under state law must be completed before a strike can take place.
(c)2016 the Chicago Tribune
