Chicago teachers' strike

(CNN) -- The Chicago teachers strike drags into a second week, after a representative group of the Chicago Teachers Union decided over the weekend not to end the walkout even though union leaders and school officials had reached a tentative contract deal.
The strike in the third-largest school system in the country is affecting more than 350,000 children.
A quick primer:
Q. What's the sticking point?
A. Among the major issues, the teachers are negotiating over the length of the school day, objecting to their evaluations being tied to performance and fretting about potential job losses.
Q. How would the length of school days change?
A. Elementary students would gain 75 minutes to create a seven-hour school day. High school students would gain 30 minutes to create a seven-and-a-half-hour school day. Teachers wants additional money to teach the additional hours.
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Q. Why are teachers objecting to evaluations tied to performance?
A. The union says student performance is directly linked to conditions in the home or neighborhood, making it unfair for teachers to be punished if students don't do well in the the classroom for those reasons.
Q. How many jobs will be lost under the evaluation plan?
A. As many as 6,000 teachers could lose their jobs under the evaluation system, according to CTU President Karen Lewis, who has called the system "unacceptable." The mayor's office, the city and school officials have questioned that job-loss figure.
Q. What's next?
A. The House of Delegates, a group of 800 union representatives, will reconvene Tuesday afternoon, at which point delegates could decide to end the strike. If they do, classes would resume no earlier than Wednesday. The rank-and-file of the Chicago Teachers Union would still have the opportunity at some point to accept, or reject, the proposed contract.
But as of Sunday, Lewis said a "clear majority" of union delegates did not want to suspend the strike given the proposed contract, saying "they are not happy with the agreement."
Q. How many teachers are in the union and how much do Chicago teachers make?
A. The Chicago Teachers Union represents 26,000 teachers. Chicago has the nation's third-largest school system with some 35,000 students, and its teachers are among the highest paid in the country. The median base salary for teachers in the Chicago public schools in 2011 was $67,974, according to the system's annual financial report.
Q. What sort of raise are they being offered?
A. The pay structure would change with a 3% pay hike for the first year of the contract, 2% for the second year and 2% for the third year. If a trigger extends the contract to four years, teachers would get a 3% pay increase. Union members would no longer be compensated for unused personal days, health insurance contribution rates will be frozen and the "enhanced pension program" is being eliminated.
Q. How is the public reacting to the strike?
A. The reaction is predictably mixed in the pro-union town. Parents have had to juggle work schedules and lay out money for child care, but many remain supportive of the union's action.