Meanwhile, At Chicago's Charter Schools, Class Is In Session
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The 61,000 students who attend Chicago public charter schools are in school today because their teachers are not part of today's one-day strike.
Andrew Broy, president of the Illinois Network of Charter Schools, says today's strike by the Chicago Teachers Union is just "demonstration of political power by the union."
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He says students need to be in school learning.
Broy visited a couple of charter schools that happen to be in Chicago public schools where teachers are striking today.
He says there was no disruption at the schools he visited.
"I talked to several families this morning of charter school students who said they were glad the schools were in session and their students would be learning. I talked to a couple of teenage students who said, 'Boy, it'd be nice to have a day off,'" Broy says.
Broy says he wouldn't be surprised to see more parents choosing charter schools for their children next year because of today's job action.
He says charter schools were seeing an "uptick of interest" by parents this past week. He says there was an increase in enrollment at charter schools after the 2012 strike by Chicago teachers.
Chris Baehrends is vice-president of the Chicago Alliance of Charter Teachers and Staff (ChiACTS), the union that represents about one-fourth of charter school teachers.
He says he's talked to many charter school teachers who are "passionately" in support of what the Chicago Teachers Union is doing today.
Baehrends also says his union's interests are the same as the Chicago Teachers Union: To have "fully funded, democratic schools where parents and stakeholders and teachers have a voice for their students."
Baehrends says charter teachers had been encouraged to picket with CTU teachers during their off-hours and join them for the massive downtown rally in the afternoon.
