Teachers in the third-largest school district are on strike, indefinitely canceling classes for more than a quarter of a million students.

About 25,000 Chicago teachers and support staff failed to show up for work Thursday after contract negotiations with city officials took their turn for the worse.

Both sides seem far from a deal. Teachers want more than a wage increase they want a bold, transformative investment in Chicago’s public education system. They also want more affordable housing in the city for students and teachers. This is what no teachers Union has demanded in recent contract negotiations.

We mean business, Stacy Davis gates, Vice President of the Chicago teachers Union, told reporters Thursday. It can’t be about politics and personalities. Its supposed to be about shifting and transforming the infrastructure of inequality.

Chicago public schools serve a high percentage of poor students, and the district has long struggled with low graduation rates. Although high school graduation rates have improved in recent years, its schools are still highly segregated. And compared to surrounding school districts and elsewhere in Illinois, Chicago schools have fewer high school teachers with higher education, larger class sizes and less public investment per student.

City officials say teachers are demanding a $ 7.7 billion budget that is too extreme and too expensive for school districts. And they would prefer to deal with some of the most pressing issues outside of the negotiation process with teachers. They agreed to give teachers a 16 per cent pay rise over five years and an increase in staff at the school. Their offer doesn’t go nearly as far as teachers want it.

We have tried to provide a better deal that is fiscally responsible, fair to teachers, and fair to taxpayers, Chicago mayor Laurie Lightfoot said at a news conference Wednesday, calling it the best proposal in the history of teachers unions.

Teachers have all the leverage right now. More Chicagoans support the teachers ‘ strike (49 percent) than disapprove (38 percent). And recent teacher strikes in major cities like Los Angeles have shown that teachers can use their collective powers to provide smaller class sizes, more nurses, more counselors and a host of other social services for students.

These broad demands are part of a growing movement, led by teachers and unions, more focused on social justice issues affecting their communities than just pay. Its known as bargaining for the common good.

That’s why teachers insist on affordable housing, too.

Chicago teachers Flex muscles

Laurie Lightfoot made national headlines in may when she became the first black, female mayor. Within months, she had to start negotiations with the teachers ‘ Union as their last contract was due to expire.

Lightfoot promised during her campaign to increase investment in district schools; she promised to add hundreds of social workers, special education managers and nurses to schools over the next five years, according to education news site Chalkbeat.

But teachers are disappointed that she wont put it in writing in her contract. In this way, the Union can guarantee that the staff employed will have professional credentials and that the work will be carried out domestically rather than Contracting out.

It all comes down to money and who gets to control how it’s spent.

Illinois finances are doing much better than they were in 2012, when teachers last went on strike. The state budget was in the red then; it was a full-blown financial crisis by 2016. While the city still owes creditors millions of dollars, more public money is flowing into Chicago public schools, which serve most high-poverty neighborhoods. Lightfoot said she would use the money to offer teachers a generous 16 percent pay raise over five years.

But the teachers Union also wants more staff and smaller class sizes written into the contract. It will cost more, but the city seems to have extra money.

Chicago saw a surge in tax revenue last year, and teachers want a portion of the $ 181 million surplus to go toward hiring more teachers and nurses, as well as more social services. That’s why they require investment in affordable housing an unusual request from teachers during negotiations.

Housing is a critical issue in Chicago, where black residents have suffered from historical segregation, de-investment in their communities and a growing affordable housing crisis.

Lightfoot says she wants to turn to affordable housing in Chicago, but she doesn’t want to be part of a contract with teachers.

But teachers are confident they can get what they want, and they have reason to.

The wave of teachers ‘ strikes had been successful

Frustration over stagnant teacher salaries, crumbling infrastructure and deep budget cuts to education sparked a wave of teacher protests in conservative States in 2018. Educators went on strike in Arizona, West Virginia, Kentucky and Oklahoma, forcing state lawmakers to raise teachers ‘ salaries and spend more on schools.

But progressive States have not been immune to unrest, even if they tend to pay teachers higher wages.

When tens of thousands of teachers went on strike in Los Angeles in January, it was a sign that the movement had spread beyond the red States where it began and could lead to more progressive cities and States also reconsidering their investments in public education. As part of a deal to end the strike, Los Angeles TEACHERS were able to negotiate smaller class sizes and the district agreed to hire more nurses, counselors, librarians and support staff.

It inspired the teachers of Chicago to fight for the same benefits and even more.

The strike has already received public support from several presidential candidates. Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren, Kamala Harris and Julie n Castro have expressed their solidarity with striking teachers in Chicago

The departure undoubtedly disrupted the lives of 300,000-plus Chicago students. Parents had to find backup childcare or stay home from work. However, surveys show that parents with children who attend the city’s public schools are more supportive of the strike than other residents.

Some even joined the teachers on the picket line.