CHICAGO (AP) — Hundreds of thousands of Chicago public school students are returning to class after teachers ended a seven-day strike, their first walkout in 25 years.
The strike in the nation's third-largest school district idled about 350,000 students. The walkout was the first for a major U.S. city in at least six years.
It also carried political implications, raising the risk of a labor battle in President Barack Obama's hometown weeks before the presidential election. Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who pushed the teachers to return to work, is a former chief of staff for Obama.
Chicago's teachers are among the highest paid in the country, but teachers unions nationwide have seen their political influence threatened by a growing reform movement.
