Chicago Schools Reopen, Teachers, Mayor Reach Deal to Suspend Strike

The 44 percent of Latinos in the nation's third largest school district are back in school today after a teacher's strike that kept them out of the classroom for 7 days.

Chicago teachers on Tuesday voted to suspend their first strike in 25 years, letting back 350,000 children back into the classroom.

About 800 union delegates met for more than two hours before voting to suspend the strike Tuesday.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel threatened to sue the teachers calling the strike illegal. After a deal was reached, the mayor called the agreement "an honest compromise."

"This is in the best interest of our students, who need the very best teachers," he said Tuesday. "It is in the best interest of our teachers, who always strive to achieve the best results they can for their students and want to develop as professionals, as every professional does."

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis was less enthusiastic.

"Well, I mean, it's the deal we have," Lewis said Tuesday on CNN's "Erin Burnett OutFront." "It's the deal we have. It's an austerity contract. The key is that we beat back the ugliest part of the so-called reform agenda,and that's important for us and our members."

According to sources, the contract calls for longer school days for elementary and high school-age students, 10 more "instructional days" each school year and a single calendar for the entire school system, as opposed to the two schedules now in place, depending on the school.

The current median base salary for teachers in Chicago Public Schools in 2011 was $67,974, according to the system's annual financial report.