Chicago teachers strike for first time in 25 years

CHICAGO -- Hundreds of striking teachers marched in downtown Chicago on Monday chanting and carrying signs after walking off the job in a contract dispute with school district officials.

"We need teachers, we need books!" teachers chanted as commuters in cars driving by honked their horns in support. One man walked by with a thumbs down gesture saying, "Think of the kids."

Some 26,000 teachers and support staff from the third-largest U.S. school district are expected to join the picket after union leaders announced they were far from resolving a contract dispute.

Susan Hickey, a school social worker for 18 years who is on the bargaining team, said health benefits and restoring laid-off teachers are among the issues.

"Chicago is a union town," she said. "The assault on unions has been horrible."

Brandon Johnson, a middle-school social studies and reading teacher for six years, said the city and mayor "want education on the cheap."

"For far too long we've been disrespected and belittled," he said. "There's no protection for teachers."

City officials acknowledged that children who are left unsupervised -- especially in neighborhoods with a history of gang violence -- might be at risk, but vowed to protect the nearly 400,000 students' safety.

The walkout posed a tricky test for Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who said he would work to end the strike quickly.

"This is not a strike I wanted," Emanuel said Sunday night, not long after the union announced the action. "It was a strike of choice. ... It's unnecessary, it's avoidable and it's wrong."