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The purpose of
the vote in the nation's third-largest city is to test both the
process of collecting the vote and teacher sentiment as
negotiations with school officials continue, said Jesse Sharkey,
vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union.
"We've told people to be prepared for a long strike if that's
what it comes to," Sharkey said. "We'd prefer there be no strike
at all."
The district, which serves about 400,000 students at more than
600 schools, faces a $1.1 billion structural deficit.
Its former chief executive, Barbara Byrd-Bennett, pleaded guilty
last month to a fraud charge related to the awarding of a no-bid
contract to her former employer, infuriating parents and
teachers who had already seen budget cutbacks.
The Chicago Public Schools' recently approved $5.7 billion
budget counts on $480 million in aid from the state of Illinois
it has not received. If the money does not come, thousands of
teachers could be laid off after Christmas.
Due to an impasse between the state's Democratic-majority
legislature and new Republican Governor Bruce Rauner, the state
has no budget.
"This isn't just about a small group of workers, it's about
whether or not our society wants to commit to public education,"
Sharkey said.
Sharkey said it is too early to speculate when and if teachers
could strike - but they need to be prepared. State law requires
approval by at least 75 percent of teachers.
Sharkey said the union would likely announce the results of the
practice vote after the weekend.
The last strike was in 2012 - the district's first in 25 years.
(Reporting by Mary Wisniewski, editing by David Alexander)
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