Chicago union: Clock has started toward teachers' strike

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Teachers Union said Saturday the countdown toward a possible strike had begun after it rejected the recommendation of a neutral arbitrator it accept a contract offer from the nation's third-largest school system.

The union said the earliest a strike could begin is May 16, about a month before the last day of school June 21.

The union also could strike in September, when school resumes for about 400,000 students.

"The clock has started," CTU president Karen Lewis said in a statement rejecting the arbitrator's recommendation. "We have no choice but to prepare ourselves for a possible strike."

The union staged a one-day walkout April 1 to protest what it says are proposals that would cut compensation for teachers and to highlight a state budget stalemate that has hurt education and social-service funding.