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Chicago school teachers picket outside Lane Tech College Prep High School on Tuesday.
By Kari Huus, NBC News
The Chicago Teachers Union and the city's public school district returned to the negotiating table Tuesday as thousands of teachers walked the picket lines for a second day in a strike that affected more than 350,000 students.
A statement issued by the union at midday Tuesday said that the two sides were not close to an agreement, calling that characterization as "misinformation" from the office of Mayor Rahm Emanuel.
"The Chicago Teachers Union has 49 Articles in its contract (and) to date we have only signed off on six of them," said?union spokeswoman Stephanie Gadlin.?"The Chicago Public Schools has made proposals to change nearly every article. It is not accurate to say both sides are extremely close. This is misinformation on behalf of the board and Mayor Emanuel.? We have a considerable way to go. This is a fact they cannot deny."
Chicago school board President David Vitale wouldn't comment Tuesday ahead of the continued negotiations, but he insisted Monday night the two sides were close on the two major remaining issues --?teacher evaluations and job security.
"We're ready to go to work," Vitale said earlier in the day. "We're disappointed that the urgency we feel doesn't seem to be shared on the other side."?
"We did not pick this fight," union president Karen Lewis told reporters as she arrived for the meeting at the offices of Bloch, Dowd & Bennett. "They've known since May they had this deadline and this could happen. ... For some reason deadlines don't mean anything to them.
Lewis said?teachers don't like the amount of standardized testing required to evaluate them and worry the evaluations could mean lost jobs.
In a letter sent Tuesday to Lewis on behalf of 30 Chicago school principals, A.N. Pritzker Elementary School Principal Dr. Joenile S. Albert-Reese wrote, "It's imperative that principals be given the autonomy they need in the hiring process.
"This autonomy is necessary to ensure that principals can hire the most qualified and best fit candidate for the position and our kids," Albert-Reese wrote. "Without this autonomy, principals may be forced to hire individuals whose skill set and value systems are not conducive to the school?s culture, mission and vision."
Related story
Chicago parents ask: How long will strike go on?
The strike is not primarily about compensation.? Chicago teachers make an average of $75,000 per year, according to the Chicago school system web site. The deal CPS put on the table includes a 16 percent raise over four years.
Click here to see the Chicago Public School's offer to unionized teachers
In the Chicago press, there has been speculation that Mayor ?Emanuel may seek a court injunction to stop the strike, under a provision of the Illinois Education Labor Relations Act that makes it allowable if a teacher strike "is or has become a clear and present danger to the public.?But how a judge would interpret the law?is uncertain, according to a report in Catalyst Chicago, a website that reports on urban education.
"(Emanuel) doesn't have a legal standing,"?Lewis said. "We have a completely legal work stoppage, we have followed every rule!"
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel urges teachers to "stay at the table" and negotiate a deal "for our children." Watch the news confernce.
More than 26,000 teachers and support staff went on strike Monday morning after talks broke down Sunday night. The move left students in nearly 700 schools without classroom instruction.
Teachers at Chicago's charter schools, which serve about 45,000 students, are not striking and those schools remain open.
Meantime, parents were offered some options for placing their children who were displaced from school by the labor dispute.
The school district opened 144 schools to accommodate kids whose parents were working and provided breakfast and lunch. Dozens of other sites run by churches and community organizations were also available, but for the second day attendance ?was lower than expected. At a South Side YMCA, the site saw 35 kids Monday and Tuesday, fewer than expected.
NBC Chicago live blog of the strike
Many striking teachers were planning to remain on picket lines in the morning then attend a 2:30 p.m. mass rally at the school district headquarters.
In a gathering Monday in front of the headquarters, marchers expressed impatience, the Chicago Tribune reported.
"This could have been solved on day negative five," complained Christopher Barker, a math teacher at George Manierre Elementary School, speaking to the Tribune. But he added, "I'll be here as long as I need to."
A fellow picketer Susan Hickey, a social worker for the district,?was worried about students most in need of help.
"These children need these services," Hickey told the Tribune.?"They need more quality services."
The only consolation, she said, was that the strike provided "a bit of a history lesson."
"We're telling them, 'This is how you stand for your rights,'" she said.
WMAQ's Phil Rogers shares the latest on the teachers strike in Chicago. Emmeline Zhao then joins to discuss the key issues separating Chicago Public School and the Chicago Teachers Union.
NBC Chicago contributed to this report.
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