Chicago school teachers go on strike CHICAGO, Sept 9 - Chicago public school teachers will strike for the first time in a quarter of a century on Monday after they failed to reach agreement with the nation's third-largest school district over education reforms sought by the mayor, Rahm Emanuel. The historic confrontation between Mr Emanuel, President Barack Obama's former top White House aide, and organised labour in the president's home city could have national implications for education reform and politics in an election year. IN US Society "We have failed to reach an agreement that will prevent a labour strike," Karen Lewis, the Chicago Teachers Union president, said at a press conference on Sunday night. In the morning, no CTU members will be inside our schools. Earlier, David Vitale, Chicago School Board president, said the talks had broken down after the city had made its "best offer" to the union, which included a proposed pay rise of 16 per cent over four years. "We've done everything we can," Mr Vitale said. Mr Emanuel said the union chose to strike even though the two sides were close to agreement. "This is totally unnecessary, it is avoidable and our kids do not deserve this," he said at a press conference after the strike was announced. About 29,000 teachers and support staff will not report for work on Monday morning, affecting about 350,000 students. The strike means parents will have to scramble to make arrangements for children either by sending them to alternative facilities such as churches or keeping them at home. Community leaders had begged both sides to come to an agreement and keep children in school. "We can't afford to have young people in harm's way," said Cy Fields, senior pastor of New Landmark Missionary Baptist Church, which is located in a violence-torn community. A protracted stoppage could hurt relations between Mr Obama's Democrats and national labour unions, which are among the biggest financial supporters of the Democratic party and will be needed by the party to get out and vote in the November 6 election. The union wants Chicago to drastically reduce class sizes and increase funding for education. It is suspicious of efforts to erode traditional job protections such as tenure, teacher autonomy and seniority. The union believes charter schools supported by Mr Emanuel, which are taxpayer-funded but not subject to all public school regulations, will undermine public education. Just over 12 per cent of Chicago public school students go to the non-union charter schools, which will be open for classes on Monday, school officials said. Mr Emanuel said the two unresolved issues in the negotiations are his demand for teacher evaluations tied to the standardised test results of students, and giving principals of schools more authority and autonomy. Teacher evaluations based on student results on tests is at the heart of the national school reform debate. Jesse Sharkey, the union vice-president, said the evaluations sought by Mr Emanuel would distort the curriculum, cheapen education and hurt school performance. Both sides in Chicago agree the city's public schools need fixing. Chicago students lag national averages in key tests of reading maths and science achievement, according to the US education department. Only about 60 per cent of high school students in Chicago graduate, compared with a national average of 75 per cent and more than 90 per cent in some affluent Chicago suburbs. More than 80 per cent of Chicago public school students qualify for free lunches because they are from low-income families. Chicago Public Schools has projected a $3bn budget deficit over the next three years and faces a crushing burden of pensions promised to retiring teachers. During the strike, the city has allocated $25m to provide breakfast and lunch to students in the district and to pay for half a day of supervision at 144 of the city's 675 schools. Children also will be housed at churches, community centres and other locations under the plan. The union has expressed concern about the plan for supervising children, calling it a "train wreck." Many of the people supervising children have not received proper training, the union said. And parents are uneasy about putting students from different schools together in neighbourhoods which have suffered from gang-related shootings this summer.