340,000 Students Out Of School In Chicago As Teachers Strike

Published April 1, 2016 at 9:33 AM PDT

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Colleen McDonough, a first-grade teacher at Walt Disney Magnet School in Chicago holds a picket sign outside the school, Friday, April 1, 2016, during a one-day strike by Chicago teachers and supporters aimed at halting education funding cuts. (Teresa Crawford/AP)

In Chicago today, teachers are on picket lines across the city, protesting stalled contract negotiations and funding cuts, at both the city and state level, that are affecting the city’s public schools.

Chicago is the country’s third-largest school district, and today’s one-day walkout is keeping 340,000 students out of school.

Here & Now’s Lisa Mullins talks with Becky Vevea, an education reporter at WBEZ in Chicago, about what teachers are protesting, and what they’re hoping to accomplish with today’s strike.

Guest

Becky Vevea, education reporter at WBEZ. She tweets @beckyvevea.