Coming Thursday, October 17th, is the supposed Chicago Teachers Union(CTU) strike which will take place in the heart of the city with thousands of CPS staff members expected to show up. This will possibly be the first strike in seven long years, and a contract has been in the talks between the CTU and Mayor Lightfoot to prevent this strike from occurring. The contract that’s been on the bargaining table for quite a while now aims to resolve current issues such as community safety, housing affordability, class sizings, staffing, etc. These issues, however, have not proven easy to resolve as it has become an apparent stalemate after countless days have already been spent in trying to negotiate and bargain a fair deal for the teachers, students, schools, and city. And if a deal is not made by the evening before the 17th, a strike will take place which can potentially lead to no school for hundreds of thousands of students.

For this issue, the Beacon goes to the teachers and students of Whitney Young for their opinions on the strike. Brandon Lee ‘20 says that, “It’s about time, if you ask me.” This can be agreed on to a certain extent as many schools around the city are facing staff shortages on top of exploding classroom sizes, poorly maintained environments, and more. Ivan Mei ‘22 agrees with this as he says, “The strike will be a blow to the schools and teachers, but if that’s what it takes to get the city’s attention then maybe it should happen.” Mr. Rehak, English and DubTV teacher, also shares a similar output on the issue when he says, “Here’s the thing, I don’t want it to happen because I want the union and the city to work things out, but If that’s not possible, I will walk out.” Regardless of what is to come, we here at the beacon are hoping for a quick and fair resolution.