Daley Spars With Teachers Union - New York News | NYC Breaking News

Daley Spars With Teachers Union

Mayor Daley is urging the Chicago Teachers Union to help the city avoid drastic budget cuts.

Chicago Public Schools are facing a $700 million budget hole next year because of shrinking state funding.

Daley says it's time for the union to enter "the real world."

“Government has to diet,” Daley said. “When people are suffering, you can't live in the abstract. You can't say, 'everything is great. It's like 20 years ago.' It's not going to be that way. People are suffering. You have to be able to cut back and start sharing the loss that people have," Daley said.

Daley is taking 29 unpaid furlough days.

The teachers union president issued a statement calling on the mayor to seek more funding from Springfield.

Schools Chief Ron Huberman wants to renegotiate teacher contracts.

The current contract calls for a 4 percent raise.