Comfortable shoes, anyone? Chicago teachers to strike after talks fail

[No Elephants]

Sep 10, 1:43 AM EDT

Chicago teachers to strike after talks fail
HICAGO (AP) -- Chicago teachers went on strike Monday for the first time in 25 years after their union and district officials failed to reach a contract agreement despite intense weekend negotiations that the union said were productive but still failed to adequately address issues such as job security and teacher evaluations.

The two sides were not far apart on compensation, but were on other issues, including health benefits - teachers want to keep what they have now - and a new teacher evaluation system based partly on students' standardized test scores, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said.

"This is a difficult decision and one we hoped we could have avoided," she said. "We must do things differently in this city if we are to provide our students with the education they so rightfully deserve."

Mayor Rahm Emanuel condemned the union's decision, and said the negotiations could be resolved if the two sides kept talking, "given how close we are."

"This is not a strike I wanted," Emanuel said. "It was a strike of choice ... it's unnecessary, it's avoidable and it's wrong. "

Awww, Rahm didn't want the strike. I guess that sets him apart from every other public official who was in office when a public union went on strike. And from every private employer whose employees went out on strike as well.

But hey! IOKIYAR (It's OK if you are Rahm.)

This must be a gut-wrenching conflict for Obama, given how pro-labor he is. And coming so soon after the Democratic National Convention began on Labor Day in the queen of right to work states, too.

Will he be tempted to do less than he did in Wisconsin? Oh, wait....