In Strike's Wake, Chicago Faces Budget Questions

Parents walk their children to Alexander Graham Bell Elementary School in Chicago on Wednesday. Students returned to school less than a day after teachers ended a seven-day strike.

—Michael Tercha/Chicago Tribune/MCT

After teacher walkout ends, difficult decisions remain

By Stephen Sawchuk

Chicago teachers voted last week to suspend a 7-day-old strike, sending some 350,000 students back to the classroom and paving the way for the teaching force to vote on a tentative contract.

But for many in the Windy City, the contract has raised another potentially tall hurdle: how the cash-strapped district will manage to pay for it.

District officials estimate the agreement forged with the Chicago Teachers Union will cost $295 million over four years—cheaper than the two previous city teachers’ contracts, but nevertheless costly in a school district that estimates it will carry a $1 billion...