Without Settlement, Chicago Schools May Have To Close

By Ann Bradley

After giving the Chicago public schools five extra days to try to reach a contract agreement with the Chicago Teachers' Union, a federal judge warned last week that the system would have to close its doors if a settlement were not reached before midnight Oct. 8.

If the board of education and the teachers' union reach an agreement, schools will stay open this week to allow the Illinois legislature to take action on a borrowing proposal to close the system's nearly $300 million budget gap.

Assisted by top state and local politicians, negotiators for the board and union met last week for talks in Mayor...