The Chicago Teacher’s Union strike ended September 18th and the children are back in school.

Tthe CTU House of Delegates voted to end the strike and give the more than 29,000 CTU members a contract for approval within the next few weeks.

Principal Jason Markey agreed that CTU brought up legitimate issues but they needed to “meet in the middle and have a positive effect on things.”

The strike made over 350,000 children miss school for 7 days.

This has brought them very far behind in school, said Brittany Welch, who is a 7th grade student at Denver Elementary School, a Chicago Public School.

According to Ms. Kim Welch, Brittany’s mother, the parents and students had no contact from the school giving them updates, or informing them if they are going to be at school. Ms. Welch tells us that the only way she knew about her child not going to school that day was by watching the news.

But, this strike has had some positive outcomes.

According to an NPR article titled “Teachers’ Gains Debated” from September 20, “this deal gives teachers pay raises, sets up a compromise teacher evaluation system, but no merit pay system.” Unfortunately, it didn’t fulfill their [teachers’] desire for smaller classes.

But has the the strike been a positive or negative thing?

Before you pass judgement, it’s best that we look at how others have it.

Some teachers and students don’t have it as good as we do here at Leyden and we should have an open mind to what it’s like for some teachers and students in CPS.

I previously attended a school which could be seen as quite similar to some Chicago Public Schools.

The conditions there weren’t like how we have it at Leyden.

Not only were the teachers not appreciated, but they had to deal with things like violence while trying to do what they aspired to do, teach.

Adding to the stress teachers had, we used old books, and there wasn’t any air conditioning throughout the school, which is twice the size of Leyden.

Most of us don’t really know what it’s like or why the teachers went on the strike. They were asking for more money but also a better environment, like cleaner bathrooms and better classrooms.

The striking CPS teachers want to do what’s best for the kids and asking for these issues to be solved is understandable.

Plus teachers don’t get paid like they should. After all, they are making future millionaires and helping kids become successful.

So yes, the teachers were right to go on strike. It did hurt the kids, but they had several good points. They shouldn’t be looked down upon for wanting to make the kids lives better overall.