Video Related To: Chicago Teachers Union Has Suspended Their Strike

www.facebook.com Hundreds of thousands of Chicago schools students will return to class Wednesday after the teachers' union voted to suspend its sometimes acrimonious strike that lasted about a week. Teachers in the third-largest US school system voted Tuesday to end their strike and resume classes. About 800 union delegates representing the 29000 teachers and support staff met for more than two hours before they voted to suspend the strike. Along with teachers and administrators, parents of the 350000 students who had been out of school for the seven-day strike, were celebrating. "I'm just glad that everyone got what they wanted, but I just wanted the children to be first," Lisa Russell, a parent, told CNN affiliate WLS. "And I believe they are first." The contract agreement with the school system still needs to be ratified by the teachers and support staff who are members of the union. Karen Lewis, union president, said the rank and file will vote in "the next couple of weeks." Chicago Public Schools and the union struck a tentative bargain Friday afternoon. But on Sunday, union members decided to continue the walkout while they reviewed the proposal. Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel said the new contract is "an honest compromise." Emanuel highlighted the fact that the new school day would be longer for many students. He said that a child who enters kindergarten under the terms of the new agreement would receive 2 1/2 more years of instruction by the time he graduated. "In <b>...</b>