Chicago students return to class as strike ends

Chicago students return to class as strike ends

CHICAGO (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Chicago public school students are returning to class after teachers ended their seven-day strike.

Sixteen-year-old Jayton Howard was on his way to Paul Robeson High School on the South Side, and he summed up his feelings in a word: “Great.”

Parents were happy too. The strike in the nation’s third-largest school district idled its roughly 350,000 students and left many parents scrambling to arrange alternative care for their children.

Some parents expressed hope today that the tentative contract agreement will benefit students in a district grappling with high dropout rates and poor performance.

Parent Leslie Sabbs-Kizer, referring to her children as she walked them to elementary school, said: “They’ll win from the strike.”