Chicago Teachers End Nine-Day Strike

The extended summer vacation for Chicago school kids is over as classes will be back in session today after teachers decided Tuesday to end their week-and-a-half-long walkout.

Although Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis admitted that "we couldn't solve all the problems" the union had with the city, its House of Delegates decided to suspend the strike that will put 350,000 students back in their seats, much to the relief of Mayor Rahm Emanuel and thousands of parents.

The contract agreed upon means teachers will receive a 17.6 percent pay raise on average over the next four years. More experienced teachers and those who go on to get their Masters will also continue getting additional salary increases.

Meanwhile, teachers can expect tougher evaluations based partly on students' performance on standardized tests. The union also won their demand for a re-hire pool for teachers who lose jobs due to school closings.

This was the first strike affecting Chicago school in 25 years while the previous one lasted 19 days.