Thousands of teachers walked off the job Monday in Chicago, the third-largest U.S. school district, as city officials prepared to look after thousands of students who could end up wandering unsafe streets.

Some 26,000 teachers and support staff were expected to join the picket after union leaders announced they were far from resolving a contract dispute with school district officials. City officials acknowledged that children left unsupervised -- especially in neighborhoods with a history of gang violence -- might be at risk, but vowed to protect the nearly 400,000 students' safety.

The walkout posed a tricky test for Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who said he would work to end the strike quickly. "This is not a strike I wanted," Emanuel said Sunday night, not long after the union announced the action. "It was a strike of choice...it's unnecessary, it's avoidable and it's wrong."

Contract negotiations between Chicago Public School officials and union leaders that stretched through the weekend were resuming Monday...

Officials said some 140 schools would be open between 8:30am and 12:30pm so the children who rely on free meals provided by the school district can eat breakfast and lunch, school district officials said...

The school district asked community organizations to provide additional programs for students, and a number of churches, libraries and other groups plan to offer day camps and other activities.

Police Chief Garry McCarthy said he would take officers off desk duty and deploy them to deal with any teachers' protests as well as the thousands of students who could be roaming the streets.

Union leaders and district officials were not far apart in their negotiations on compensation, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said. But other issues -- including potential changes to health benefits and a new teacher evaluation system based partly on students' standardized test scores -- remained unresolved, she said.

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Editor's Note: At a time when 23 million Americans are looking for work, and when many public sector unions are required to forgo raises and contribute more to their pensions, it is galling that the Chicago Teachers Union would even think about something so incredibly greedy...especially when one looks at the plummeting test scores and the limited ablities of the system's graduates...Time for Emanuel to cross party lines and consult Chris Christie...


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