Chicago students return to class as strike ends

With an average salary of $76,000, Chicago teachers are already among the highest-paid in the nation. The district's final proposal included an average 7 percent raise over three years, with additional raises for experience and education.

But the evaluations and job security measures stirred the most intense debate. The union said the evaluation system relied too heavily on test scores and did not take into account outside factors that affect student performance such as poverty, violence and homelessness.

The union also pushed to give laid-off teachers first dibs on open jobs anywhere in the district. The tentative settlement proposed giving laid-off teachers first shot at schools that absorbed their former students and filling half of district openings from a pool of laid-off teachers.

Susan Hickey, a school social worker, said she is eager to learn how the students she counsels fared over the summer.

"How are they? Are they OK?" she said. "I'm glad to be back for all kinds of reasons."

Associated Press Writer Jason Keyser contributed to this report.