LINCOLN PARK — Mayor Rahm Emanuel made it clear Wednesday he doesn't support the Chicago Teachers Union's possible plans to skip work and boycott the classroom April 1 for a "Day of Action."
"We're at the negotiating table. That is where we're responsible," Emanuel told reporters after the official unveiling of six acres of green space along the lakefront at Fullerton Avenue Wednesday afternoon.
"The leadership for the union should be at the negotiating table," Emanuel added. "Our kids should be at their desks in the classroom and our teachers should be there giving them the essential education they chose as a profession, that they love.
"We should do both and not take out disagreements on our children's education. Whether you're the mayor, whether you have a small business in the neighborhood or [are] head of a museum. If you're an adult, I think we should at least have a consensus that our kids belong in school."
Union officials will lay out plans for the April 1 "Day of Action" at a 6:30 p.m. Wednesday news conference at the International Operating Engineers Hall, 2260 S. Grove St.
What remains to be formally determined is whether that panel will decide on an all-day strike, a walkout at some point of the day — before or after classes end — or simply an evening march or demonstration Downtown.
Union President Karen Lewis has referred to the "Day of Action" as a "showdown" and an orchestrated effort to "shut it down" on April 1, leaving Chicago Public Schools officials confounded.
Union officials have said the "Day of Action" is aimed at the general statewide "funding inequity" on education spending, an issue currently locked up in the ongoing budget impasse between Gov. Bruce Rauner and the General Assembly, and at "business as usual" at CPS and in the Emanuel administration.
Emanuel closed his remarks Wednesday saying his desire for kids to stay in the classroom "takes nothing away from the energy and commitment we will have to come up with on an agreement for our taxpayers, teachers, and most importantly, for our children."
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