WASHINGTON (AP) — Education Secretary Arne Duncan isn't taking sides in the Chicago teachers' strike that is keeping more than 350,000 students out of the classroom.
Duncan says he hopes the union and school board will come together quickly to get kids back in school.
Duncan is also the former chief of Chicago's public school system. He says he's confident both sides are working in the best interests of students.
Duncan says as teachers and school districts have done in elsewhere in the country, they should collaborate at the bargaining table to find a solution that puts kids first.
A spokesman for President Barack Obama said he hasn't taken sides in the dispute. Obama's opponent, Mitt Romney, said teachers were turning their backs on students and that Obama was siding with the strikers.
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