A three-cornered battle between a budget-slashing mayor, a union-busting governor, and determined teachers could result this fall in the second public schools strike in Chicago in four years.

At the center of the battle is an effort to force Chicago teachers to pay the equivalent of 7 percent of their base pay in additional pension costs, reversing an agreement made with the Chicago Teachers Union in lieu of a raise. “If the Board of Education imposes a 7 percent slash in our salaries, we will move to strike,” Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) president Karen Lewis said at an August 8 press conference.

The school district also upped the ante by announcing one thousand layoffs and further budget cuts that will squeeze special education and force principals to eliminate jobs.