CHICAGO (AP) - The Latest on Chicago’s budget woes and ongoing teacher strike (all times local):
4:35 p.m.
Chicago Public Schools have cancelled classes for a sixth day as a teachers’ strike remains unresolved.
The nation’s third-largest school district has kept school buildings open since the Chicago Teachers Union strike began on Thursday, but classes and after-school activities have been canceled for more than 300,000 students.
The district announced Wednesday afternoon that the cancellations will continue Thursday.
Negotiators have met for hours each day but progress has been slow.
The union, which represents more than 25,000 teachers, and the district remain at odds over teacher pay, class sizes and additional staff for schools. Mayor Lori Lightfoot has said the city’s offered raises for teachers are fair and responsible for the district’s finances.
Thousands of school staff who belong to another union joined teachers on the picket lines.
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11:30 a.m.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says her proposal to close the city’s $838 million budget deficit doesn’t rely on large property tax increases but will require significant moves by state lawmakers in Springfield.
Lightfoot delivered her first budget address Wednesday before the City Council, five months after taking office.
She says the city will ask state lawmakers this fall to alter the city’s tax system on sales of high-end property and the tax structure for a casino within city limits as part of a broader package to close the budget gap.
Without those changes, Lightfoot says city officials will have to make “painful choices” to grow revenue.
Lightfoot’s plan also includes refinancing the city’s debt and adding a tax on solo rides in or out of the city’s downtown via ride-hailing companies.
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9:15 a.m.
Striking Chicago teachers are marching toward City Hall for a downtown protest timed with Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s first budget address.
Classes at Chicago Public Schools were canceled for the fifth day on Wednesday as the Chicago Teachers Union and the district remained at odds over teacher pay, class sizes and additional staff for schools.
Striking teachers and staff have been on the picket line outside schools since Thursday but are ramping up pressure on Lightfoot with Wednesday morning’s march through the city’s downtown streets.
Lightfoot is expected to detail her plan for a $838 million city budget deficit before the City Council at 10 a.m. The city and the school district budgets are separate.
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5:07 a.m.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot is expected to detail how the nation’s third-largest city should deal with an $838 million budget deficit when she delivers her budget address to the City Council.
Lightfoot’s speech set for Wednesday morning comes on the fifth day of canceled classes during a strike by Chicago Public Schools teachers. The city’s budget Lightfoot will address is separate from the school district’s budget.
Lightfoot has already said her budget proposal will include a tax on solo riders using ride-hailing services in or out of downtown and doubling the tax on food and drinks in restaurants.
In her first State of the City address, Lightfoot said she wanted to avoid raising revenue from those least able to pay or by using strategies that could drive businesses from Chicago.
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