Chicago's one-day teacher walkout hits 400K students

Picket lines went up outside Chicago schools Friday at 6:30 a.m. in a one-day walkout by the Chicago Teachers Union that will affect nearly 400,000 students.

The students have the option of spending the day in "contingency sites," locations set up at churches, libraries ands school buildings.

Chicago Teachers Union vice president Jesse Sharkey stood outside a school early Friday as protesters shouted “fight for funding.” the Associated Press reports.

Sharkey says the goal of the walkout is to fix the Illinois state budget crisis and fund schools. He says teachers will fight until schools receive money and “we are not taking no for an answer.”

The district said earlier that CTU members who don't show up for work won't be paid, and that schools will be open for teachers who do want to cross picket lines, the Chicago Tribune reports.

The Chicago Teachers Union last went on strike in 2012, shutting down schools for more than a week before reaching an agreement with Mayor Rahm Emanuel. That contract expired in June.

Friday’s action could foreshadow a longer strike over a new contract, which by law can’t occur for several weeks.

Chicago Public Schools is facing a $1.1 billion budget against a backdrop of contract talks between teachers and the school district. The "day of action" is aimed at bolstering the talks and getting the attention of state legislators in Springfield, Ill., to increase public education funding, WLS-TV reports.