Chicago Teachers Union Holds 1 Day Walkout

Teachers stage an informational picket line in front of the 19th Ward service office in Beverly on Friday morning. | Courtesy of Sen. Bill Cunningham

CHICAGO, IL - Chicago Public Schools teachers and supporters were decked out in red shirts supporting Chicago Teachers’ Union Local 1 at several schools early Friday morning as part of a walk-out planned last week by the union.

The teachers hit the picket lines around 6:30 a.m. and were soon after joined by members of labor organizations, students and activists.

• Also on Patch: CTU Ends Walkout With Noisy, Downtown Rally: Photo Gallery

The demand is for more funding from Springfield, where the state of Illinois has yet to pass a budget.

"We have a funding crisis in this state. It's being driven by a governor who's making the choice not to pass a budget because he's trying to help out his billionaire friends,” CTU Vice President Jesse Sharkey said during a rally outside Roosevelt High School. “They have to pay their share. We need social services and we need public schools."

With more than 340,000 students out of school, CPS designated about 250 “contingency sites” where students could show up. Several parents opted to take their children to work instead.

Rauner slammed the teachers who did strike in a statement released Friday morning.

"It's shameful that Chicago's children are the victims in this raw display of political power,” Rauner wrote in part. “Walking out on kids in the classroom, leaving parents in the lurch and thumbing their nose at taxpayers -- it's the height of arrogance from those we've entrusted with our children's futures. By breaking the law in Chicago and forcing passage of a bad law in Springfield, powerful bosses are proving they have an unfair advantage over Illinois families.”

CPS has denounced the strike as illegal and is pursuing legal options, according to ABC Chicago and other sources. Before Friday, CPS encouraged teachers to cross the picket lines and return to work.