A strike by school teachers in Chicago has spread from the picket line to the playing field.
Thousands of high school athletes, shut out of class for more than a week, are arguing, rallying and even filing lawsuits for the chance to compete in post-season play. Hanging in the balance, they say, are not just the pursuits of state-championship glory and lifelong memories, but scholarships that for some represent a lone opportunity to attend college and, in some cases, escape drugs and violence in city neighborhoods.
About 25,000 members of the Chicago Teachers Union walked out Oct. 17 . They continue to negotiate with administrators for the nation’s third-largest school system, but disagreement remains over issues such as class sizes and staffing. The work stoppage also idled action on the gridiron, tennis court, soccer field and cross-country course.
CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates, a basketball player in her Indiana school days, was sympathetic to the young competitors, saying, “This sucks.”
The strike came at the very moment competitors were gearing up for state playoff runs. Solorio Academy missed its chance to win a second state soccer championship in three years because the tournament began last week. The lawsuit by Jones Prep and other cross-country teams argues that a different interpretation of an IHSA rule could still allow runners to answer the state-meet gun on Nov. 9. Football teams that have completed eight games and won at least five were expected to be seeded for the playoffs by the IHSA Saturday. But IHSA rules stipulate that the strike must end by Tuesday night, allowing the teams to suit up for three days of practice before going full-tilt in the first playoff round Nov. 2.
Simeon Career Academy at 6-1 is ranked third in the state in Class 6A by The Associated Press, but was ineligible for the playoffs because a regular-season game fell through, leaving the team short of the eight required. The IHSA agreed on Friday to waive that rule for Simeon and two other schools, allowing them to be seeded, but rejected Simeon’s request to skirt the three-practice requirement. That means the strike would have to end by Wednesday to give eligible schools a chance to play.
A Cook County judge on Friday ruled that high school cross-country runners won’t be able to participate in a state-qualifying meet Saturday. Judge Eve M. Reilly issued her order a day after athletes from Jones College Prep filed a lawsuit. It sought to lift an IHSA prohibition on their participation in sectional competition before the state finals Nov. 9.
Saturday night during the playoff pairings, schools being unable to participate bumped schools like Rochester, Chatham-Glenwood and others up a class.
