Was Phil Ponce asleep at the switch last night in his interview with CPS CEO John-Claude Brizard?
Why didn't he say to Mr. Brizard, "You expect teachers to work a two week longer school yaar and a 30% longer school day for a measly 2% pay increase when you just renegged on a conracted 4% salary increase? That doesn't compute. A beginning teacher earning perhaps $50K/year would work over 300 extra hours per school year for $1000/year, maybe $800 after taxes. That's a little over $3.00/hour, not even minimum wage." Mr. Brizard should change his surname to "Buzzard"!
Let's face it. Even back to Mayor Daley, he also wanted an extended school day and year, not for the smokescreen of more educational opportunity, but to keep the kids off the street and to appease working parents. Nothing more than baby sitting service.

Anyone planning on teaching in Illinois, and especially the city of Chicago, will now look elsewhere. You can't live outside of Chicago to teach in Chicago, the only school district in the state with a residency rule. The state decimated all teacher's pensions, even though the Chicago Teacher's Pension fund is funded by CPS and not the state. Then the state gave CPS a three year holiday in funding the pension fund. Teaching has never been a 9 to 5 job, that was an advantage to the job, but now that's what CPS wants to turn it into. Teachers currently work 6.5 hours/day. CPS now wants an 8 hour day for basically the same money. Would anyone in the private sector accept this? There would no longer be an advantage to being a teacher, with all the aggravation that goes with the job. No recess, a 20 minute lunch, and 90 minutes increased class time is more than any child can take. You think maintaining discipline in an inner city school is tough now, it will be bedlam with a longer school day. Instead of taking it to the streets after school, the kids will now take it to the classroom. No child can take that much class time without an opportunity to blow off steam. Teach in Chicago? Remember, they don't even get a washroom break. On top of all of that, you now would have teach until age 65. Teaching was once a wonderful job. Now it will suck!
This is not Japan. There are no discipline problems in Japanese classrooms. Parents feel dishonored if a child fails, therefore their children must do well. Students must take entrance exams and qualify for a high school. In Japan children strive to excess. In the U.S., children strive to disrupt.