Chicago Teachers Union reaches deal with city to end strike

Chicago kids will be heading back to school Friday.

The Chicago Teachers Union has agreed to a deal with the city, ending its 11-day strike and sending more than 300,000 students back to class on Friday. Still, the union isn't completely thrilled with the deal and negotiations will continue, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Union President Jesse Sharkey and other union officials met with Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Thursday, and at the end of their hourslong meeting, emerged with a deal. Discussions had previously hit a snag Wednesday night when, after teachers demanded they be able to make up all 11 days lost to the strike, Lightfoot conceded to only five.

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The 25,000-member union eventually agreed to the five-day makeup, but things still remained tense. Sharkey characterized the union's deal as "a return to work agreement" and not something permanent, per NBC News. He later said that this is "not a day for photo ops and victory laps," while Lightfoot simply said that the deal was a "compromise" made in the "interest of our students and our parents who have been suffering," per the Chicago Sun-Times.