Labor had a great deal in sight. But the union boss fumbled her opportunity to seal a quick victory. James Warren on how harried parents could turn on teachers any day now. 
 
 Rahm Emanuel, tough, irascible, and chronically profane, is a man of many faults. But he knows how to count votes. If only Karen Lewis, his rival in the ongoing Chicago teacher’s strike, could say the same. The head of the local union appears to have miscalculated, as a decision to put a new contract to an approval vote Sunday was punted amid rank-and-file confusion and internal differences over the deal. 
 
 The weeklong walkout wound up in court Monday. The mayor failed to get an order that the teachers return immediately, and the judge said he won’t hold a hearing on the request until Wednesday. Hopes of an end to the impasse were put on hold until then, as stressed parents juggling unexpected child-care duties struggled to cope with the ongoing crisis. 
 
 No one doubts the intelligence and drive of Lewis, a Dartmouth grad with considerable passion for the cause. But Sunday afternoon’s session of the union’s House of Delegates raised anew questions about Lewis’s leadership of a local that is showing signs of becoming organized labor’s version of the Tea Party. 
 
 Lewis and the union hierarchy thought they could get fairly quick approval Sunday of a pact with some relatively complicated and sensitive matters, notably involving how to assess teacher performance and the recall of laid-off teachers. But when the meeting convened, the delegates received scant details about the lengthy bill of particulars—and nothing remotely close to a copy of the deal. What’s more, Lewis left precious little time for the delegates to get the work done, starting at 3 p.m. when they needed to wrap up by sundown because of the Jewish holy period of Rosh Hashanah. It was not until Monday that rank-and-file teachers were able to log on to a union website and get a dramatically condensed, 28-page version of the deal. 
 
 Lewis was an insurgent candidate who defeated an incumbent in 2010 for the Chicago Teachers Union presidency, winning 12,080 to 8,326. She has led a populist surge that at times has put the local at odds with its parent, the American Federation of Teachers, even while making Lewis a bit of a folk hero to some within the national organization. The split in a historically fractious local with frequent leadership turnover means there is a large core of Lewis doubters. 
 
 Their qualms have not necessarily been lessened by at times impolitic and immature remarks. Last year at a Seattle labor gathering, the onetime aspiring comic launched into a rambling, 35-minute monologue belittling Emanuel; Education Secretary Arne Duncan, her union predecessor; and capitalism in general. 
 
 It is far from unprecedented for a union leader to return to the rank-and-file with a deal they don’t particularly like, forcing the two sides to return to the table and perhaps continuation of a strike. But sometimes, rank-and-file unhappiness can be a reflection of a failure to manage expectations and deliver on a deadline. 
 
 Compounding the frustration: once they got a better look at the outlines, many teachers regarded the pact a good deal. While chaperoning her own strike-idled kids at a Chicago playground Monday afternoon, a striking special education teacher said her school’s union delegate had just asked her and others how he should vote. She wants to return and supports a “yes” vote on what she conceded appears to be a positive agreement. 
 
 After all, the deal on the table features what could amount to a 15 percent or 16 percent pay hike over a potential four years (three years guaranteed and a fourth given to the parties’ later discussions)—not bad, considering we’re in the middle of a recession. For the first time since 1995, when a traditional recall provision was scrapped by a new state law pertaining only to Chicago, the union has gained a recall provision for certain members who are laid off. 
 
 For the moment, the onus remains squarely on the shrewd but erratic union president and a high-profile, opinionated mayor who would probably be best served by laying low. 
 
 In addition, the teachers have seemingly beaten back a large measure of Emanuel’s attempt to get far more comprehensive classroom assessment provisions in the deal. Further, they fended off his call for merit pay and for eliminating automatic increases tied to tenure and continuing education. 
 
 Taken together, the deal appears to be far from what some national opinion makers, like David Brooks of The New York Times, have suggested is a ringing Emanuel accomplishment that will put Chicago at the forefront of the education reform movement. 
 
 With the wind at her back, Lewis could have decreed victory and moved on. But the delay in a decision carries significant political risks. While popular support for the union remains substantial, it’s highly probable that parental frustration could begin turning against the union in a few days. Sunday’s untidy meeting inspired what amounted to a citywide “Oh, no!” groan, especially among parents sent unexpectedly scurrying for child-care alternatives. 
 
 ||||| Editorial: Read the fine print, then end strike Editorials 
 
 Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, leaves the building late Sunday evening after Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates did't trust the Chicago Public Schools latest proposal. I Scott Stewart~Sun-Times 
 
 storyidforme: 36910285 
 
 tmspicid: 13551969 
 
 fileheaderid: 6253000 
 
 Updated: 
 
 As Chicago teachers spend the next two days studying the fine print of their proposed contract, they’ll discover something that was painfully obvious on Sunday: 
 
 Not only did Chicago teachers get a fair deal, the contract is the very best they are going to get. 
 
 When union delegates return on Tuesday, they have no choice but to lift this strike and send 350,000 children back to school. 
 
 If not, Mayor Rahm Emanuel might force them. On Sunday night Emanuel said he intended to go to court to force schools open. He argues that the strike is illegal. 
 
 More important, the deal represents the outer limits of what the Chicago Board of Education can do, both on salary and on policy. Emanuel’s schools team has already compromised considerably, allowing teachers to walk back into class proudly, pointing to major gains. 
 
 The contract is not, as Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said Sunday, just “the deal we got. It is not a good deal by any stretch of the imagination.” 
 
 Chicago teachers should be able to read the full 186-page contract, not just a summary, as they demanded Sunday. The negotiations opened with the union being asked to swallow many bitter pills: a longer day and year but only a small raise, no teacher recall as major school closings loom, a threat to class size limits, an untested evaluation system. 
 
 But Lewis fought for her members and her vision for better schools. And in the end, CTU beat the board back in key areas: no merit pay; preserved raises for each extra year of service; a larger raise than CPS can afford and no health-care increases; the hiring of 512 teachers to help make the longer day a better one; guaranteed jobs for top-rated displaced teachers. 
 
 The board listened to Chicago’s teachers. 
 
 But the board did not cave. 
 
 It stood up for core principles: fiscal responsibility, preserving a principal’s right to pick her own staff, and an evaluation that helps teachers improve and moves out those who aren’t fit. 
 
 The deal ensures a longer school day and year for Chicago, a huge victory. It also creates a high bar for employment for the first time. If CPS can pull this off, its potential is limitless. Nothing a school does matters more than choosing who heads each classroom. 
 
 This new high bar is a key reason the union wanted to get the evaluation just right. The “elephant in the room,” Lewis said Sunday, is the board’s desire to shut down many of its half-empty schools, sending hundreds of veteran teachers out to find new jobs. Generally, only teachers rated in the top two of four categories can be hired in Chicago under the new contract. This could create problems: Will CPS water down its evaluations for lack of strong teachers? That’s something to watch. 
 
 But the idea is right on. 
 
 Fairness dictated adjustments to the evaluation, as the union demanded. The CTU also fought to give displaced teachers first dibs on jobs. These are the biggest stumbling blocks to union sign-off on a deal, but the agreed-to changes strike an excellent balance — ensuring fairness without undue compromises. 
 
 † Evaluation: The first year will be for fine-tuning, no stakes attached; the portion of evaluation based on student scores will top out at 30 percent, though it could rise under the next contract; a more rigorous appeals process; and teachers in the second-worst rating won’t face dismissal after two years, as CPS proposed, so long as their teaching improves. 
 
 † Recall: The board rightly rejected a blanket re-hiring policy for all displaced teachers, though they offered some guarantees for teachers from school closings, bumping up against a line that infringes on a principal’s hiring freedom. Displaced teachers who are highly rated can follow their students to a new school if an opening exists. Principals also must interview any well-rated applicants from a closed school. 
 
 The board signed on to a big raise and still must figure out how to pay for it. But the cost is worth it to honor teachers. CPS is already in a deep fiscal hole; this just digs it in a little deeper. The raise puts that much more pressure on the board to rein in spending, including moving ahead with painful school closures and dramatic pension cost cuts. 
 
 Teachers, take a day if you must. Then grab this deal while you still have it.
– When the Chicago Teachers Union declined to vote on a new contract that would have ended the ongoing strike Sunday, it lost its best chance at a quick and fair deal, writes James Warren in the Daily Beast. Union President Karen Lewis seriously "miscalculated" by giving few details about the contract to teachers and leaving very little time for the vote. In all the confusion, the union opted for the delay—but had teachers been able to actually look at a copy of the contract, they probably would have approved it, Warren writes. In fact, many teachers have now had a better look at the terms, and they like them. The deal offers a decent pay hike over a few years and a recall provision for some laid-off staff, and some of Rahm Emanuel's harsher measures involving teacher assessment and pay were scaled back. "Lewis could have decreed victory and moved on," Warren writes. Instead, she risks losing the support of "stressed parents juggling unexpected child-care duties" as their kids remain out of school. The Chicago Sun-Times agrees, declaring in an editorial that the contract "is the very best" deal teachers will be able to get, and includes quite a few compromises from Emanuel.