Chicago teachers strike

Chicago teachers walk a picket line outside Benjamin Banneker Elementary School in Chicago on Sept. 10, 2012. Thousands of teachers walked off the job in the nation's third-largest school district for the first time in 25 years after union leaders announced they were far from resolving a contract dispute with school district officials.

Chicago teachers Michael Williams and Alma Hill walk a picket line outside Benjamin Banneker Elementary School in Chicago on Sept. 10, 2012.

Chicago teachers walk a picket line outside Benjamin Banneker Elementary School in Chicago on Sept. 10, 2012.

Rose Davis speaks outside Benjamin E. Mays Academy where she dropped off her two grandchildren for a half day of school supervision, during the first day of a teachers strike, Sept. 10, 2012, in Chicago.

Parents drop their children off at Benjamin E. Mays Academy one of the few schools open for a half day during the first day of a Chicago teachers strike, Sept. 10, 2012, in Chicago.

Dequita Wade walks her son Jerome Wade, 16, to Paul Robeson High School, one of the few schools open for a half day during the first day of a Chicago teachers strike, Sept. 10, 2012.

Parents drop their children off at Benjamin E. Mays Academy, one of the few schools open for a half day during the first day of a Chicago teachers strike, Sept. 10, 2012, in Chicago.

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis walks to a news conference outside the union's headquarters in Chicago to announce that the city's 25,000 public school teachers will walk the picket line Monday morning after talks with the Chicago Board of Education broke down on Sept. 9, 2012.

Chicago Board of Education President David Vitale pauses at a news conference outside the Chicago Teachers Union Headquarters, where he said that final-day talks with the union failed to reach an agreement over teachers' contracts on Sept. 10, 2012, in Chicago.

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis informs reporters at a news conference outside the union's headquarters in Chicago that the city's 25,000 public school teachers will walk the picket line Monday morning after talks with the Chicago Board of Education broke down on Sept. 9, 2012.

Chicago Board of Education President David Vitale informs reporters at a news conference outside the Chicago Teachers Union Headquarters that final-day talks with the union failed to reach an agreement over teachers' contracts on Sept. 10, 2012, in Chicago.

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, right, tells reporters at a news conference outside the union's headquarters that the city's 25,000 public school teachers will walk the picket line Monday morning after final-day talks with the Chicago Board of Education failed to reach an agreement over teachers' contracts on Sept. 10, 2012, in Chicago.

Chicago public school teachers walk a picket line on an overpass on the Dan Ryan expressway near Shoop Elementary School on Sept. 10, 2012, in Chicago.

Chicago public school teachers take a group picture as they walk a picket line outside Shoop Elementary School on Sept. 10, 2012, in Chicago.

Chicago public school teachers walk a picket line outside Morgan Park High School on Sept. 10, 2012, in Chicago.

Public school teachers Lenore Lopez, right, and Morgan Mudron, cheer as cars honk for a picket line outside Morgan Park High School in Chicago on Sept. 10, 2012.

Michael Grant, a parent of a Chicago public school student, walks a picket line outside Shoop Elementary School in support of striking CPS teachers on Sept. 10, 2012, in Chicago.

Parents of Chicago public school students, Carmen Brownlee, left, and, Latonya Williams, right, walk a picket line outside Shoop Elementary School in support of striking CPS teachers on Sept. 10, 2012, in Chicago.

Chicago public school teacher Michelle Harton walks a picket line outside Morgan Park High School in Chicago, Sept. 11, 2012, on the second day of a strike in the nation's third-largest school district.

Public school teachers cheer as they march on streets surrounding the Chicago Public Schools district headquarters on the first day of strike action over teachers' contracts on Sept. 10, 2012, in Chicago.

Chicago public school teachers walk a picket line outside Lane Tech High School on Sept. 10, 2012, in Chicago.

Thousands of public school teachers rally outside the Chicago Public Schools district headquarters on the first day of strike action over teachers' contracts on Sept. 10, 2012, in Chicago.