The Nation : Chicago Schools to Open; Pact Supported

The Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates voted 563 to 95 to recommend a contract that would send 430,000 students back to school and throw hundreds of teachers out of work. The delegates voted to suspend the 4-week strike, their longest ever, and send the union’s 29,000 teachers back to work today, allowing students to start Tuesday. The union rank and file must vote on the pact within 10 days and are expected to give grudging approval. The two-year pact provides a 4% raise this year, with another 4% next year if money is available. But it also calls for the layoff in several phases of 1,800 school district employees, including nearly 1,000 teachers with little seniority. Meanwhile, teachers in Little Rock, Ark., approved a two-year pact allowing 26,000 students to return to class today. Teachers will get a raise of 6.6% in the first year and 5% in the second year.