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Waukegan School Board Adjourns Meeting Amid Parent Anger

(CBS) -- Waukegan's school board abruptly adjourned its meeting Tuesday night when parents angry about a prolonged teachers strike were deemed too unruly.

School officials say the audience would not come to order, making an open discussion impossible.

The confrontation came on the heels of relatively good news: Discussion between board and union representatives appeared to take a positive turn. That was the word from both sides.

Teachers Strike End Near?

"We're certainly the closest we've ever been," says Kenzo Shibati of the Illinois Federation of Teachers.

Nicholas Alajakis, the spokesman for the Waukegan Public Schools, did not dispute that.

"The sides today did have some positive talks," he said.

Both sides were expected to resume negotiations Wednesday morning.

Issues surrounding salary have been the major sticking point.

There has been some movement on that recently.

The Waukegan teachers strike affects 17,000 students. It began Oct. 2.

Tuesday marked the 17th day of classes that students have missed.

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