CHICAGO – Elfega Cazares isn’t taking sides in the standoff between the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools over contract talks. Like many of the immigrant parents in the city’s Pilsen neighborhood, she knows her children stand to lose the most if teachers walk off the job Monday.

“It is very important that we stay in school so we can be prepared to be someone in life,” Cazares said, her 10-year-old son Francisco Vasquez translating for her from Spanish.

But students across the city, most of whom return to school today, could find themselves out of the classroom again Monday.