The Chicago Teachers Union and supporters converged Wednesday morning on City Hall and the Thompson Center on the fifth day of the CPS strike in an effort to pressure Mayor Lori Lightfoot as she made her first city budget address. Later in the day, Chicago Public Schools announced that classes were canceled again Thursday.
After talks ended Wednesday evening, the CTU said tentative agreements had been reached on about 80 individual issues, though not on the union’s top priorities.
The strike, which began last Thursday and will enter its sixth school day tomorrow, sent about 25,000 teachers and about 7,000 support staff to picket lines and idled about 300,000 students.
Here are the latest updates from the fifth day of the teachers strike:
8:30 p.m. Wednesday: Progress on lots of issues — but not the top five, union says
As contract talks wrapped up for the day Wednesday night, Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Stacy Davis Gates said she was not discouraged by the day’s progress, saying the sides have reached tentative agreements on about 80 individual issues.
But Davis Gates said the union’s top five priorities are still unresolved and they’re still “nowhere” on setting enforceable class size caps.
She criticized Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s budget plan, unveiled hours earlier as tens of thousands of striking employees and supporters rallied outside.
“While she celebrated this record surplus, we won’t see it in our classrooms,” Davis Gates said.
The union vice president also talked about passing vacant lots in Englewood in between vivid teacher pickets. The union wants to help turn struggling neighborhood around, she said.
“We are blamed for a lot,” she said. “We are never given the credit for perseverance.”
Davis Gates acknowledged the many student athletes who are unable to compete in important events because of the strike, saying she’s “deeply, deeply apologetic” to all who have missed out on competitions.
With the union putting on nonviolent civil disobedience training for its members Thursday, Davis Gates said that it’s sometimes necessary to use such tactics “to have a voice in this country.” — Hannah Leone
6:25 p.m. Wednesday: ‘The union is very good at generating publicity, … at playing to people’s emotions,’ mayor says
During a meeting with the Chicago Tribune editorial board, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said she hears “from parents and students all across the city the harm this is causing them.”
“The anxiety level among parents and students is really at an all-time high and increases every single day,” Lightfoot said.
Later, the mayor said CTU walking out “isn’t like any other work stoppage.”
“This is children’s lives that are affected every single day there is a work stoppage because they go to school of course to learn, but when you have a student population where 75 percent of them get free and reduced lunch, where the school may be the safest, warmest place where they get love and support, school is much much more than just a place where they learn their ABCs,” Lightfoot said.
Asked about the union running a civil disobedience training in case members need to “ratchet up pressure,” later this week, Lightfoot said “the rhetoric doesn’t match up” with what’s happening at the table.
“The union is very good at generating publicity, very good at playing to people’s emotions and getting them excited and out on the street,” Lightfoot said. “But what it takes to get a deal done is having a level of discipline and rigor and speed to come back to the bargaining table to respond to a variety of counterproposals that are out on a range of issues they told us are important.”
Lightfoot said her offer is “a very fair and robust deal that values teachers and values support staff.”
Again, the mayor reiterated her call for the union to have greater urgency and be more efficient in turning around proposals — a claim the union has angrily denied. — Gregory Pratt
6 p.m. Wednesday: ‘Candidate Lightfoot’ broke her promises, teachers union asserts
Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey returned to the union’s “Candidate Lightfoot” comparison in a statement Wednesday evening, asserting that Lightfoot’s promises during her campaign for mayor don’t line up with the priorities she set forth in budget address earlier in the day.
“The Mayor said she would make hard choices, but where are they?” Sharkey said. “She’s kicking revenue decisions to Springfield. She’s not asking the police to pay the cost of their own settlements. She’s not re-opening public mental health clinics, which would cost a fraction of one percent of her budget. Instead, she’s produced a menu of taxes that will hit poor and working people the hardest.”
He further criticized the mayor for not reinstating the corporate head tax, not putting more TIF surplus funds toward public needs and not adding a sales tax on luxury services. He added that the Chicago Department of Public Health isn’t getting money for new full-time mental health positions, while the police department’s budget is increasing by $121 million.
Amid mayoral promises to address homelessness and affordable housing problems, the $10 million going toward youth homelessness and affordable housing is “paltry,” Sharkey said, “not even a drop in the bucket to address the crisis in our neighborhoods, some of which have lost over 10% of their affordable rental units over the last three years.”
“We were promised equity and justice, including educational justice for our students,” Sharkey said. “This proposed budget does the opposite, and the mayor should expect robust opposition both from City Council members and ordinary Chicagoans, and a push to do what’s right instead of what’s convenient and profitable for the city’s elites.” — Hannah Leone
4:21 p.m. Wednesday: CPS cancels classes again for Thursday
Chicago Public Schools announced that classes will be canceled Thursday in an email to parents as the teachers strike is expected to enter its sixth school day.
3:45 p.m. Wednesday: Lightfoot met with Tribune Editorial Board
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot met with the Tribune Editorial Board, which operates separately from the newsroom. Watch here.
2:45 p.m. Wednesday: CTU plans to head back to picket lines Thursday — and to offer civil disobedience training to ‘ratchet up the pressure’ if needed
The Chicago Teachers Union is making plans to be back on the picket lines Thursday – and to offer civil disobedience training to its members to “ratchet up the pressure.”
Though classes in Chicago Public Schools have not yet been formally canceled for Thursday, CTU has indicated that its members will be back on the picket lines at 6:30 a.m., according to a memo to members obtained by the Tribune, suggesting any settlement of contract talks Wednesday could be unlikely.
The union said it’s “taking a page from the civil rights movement with civil disobedience training at CTU HQ, as we build our battle for the civil rights of our students.”
The memo added: “To combat the mayor’s stonewalling, we may need to ratchet up pressure.”
Amid those plans, negotiations are expected to continue, and the union’s approach is still “hope for the best, plan for the worst,” said CTU spokeswoman Chris Geovanis.
Civil disobedience training may include tactics that have been used by civil rights activists in the past, from how to safely block a street to how to do a sit-in, Geovanis said. The union has used those tactics before.
“There’s a bit of science to this, and you also want to ensure that people understand what these kinds of actions entail,” Geovanis said.
CPS and city officials did not immediately respond to an inquiry about the Thursday plan or when they’d make an announcement about classes.
Despite the picket plans for Thursday, signs of progress surfaced from the bargaining table. Executive Board member Michelle Gunderson tweeted a photo of the bargaining team in front of a screen displaying a section of the proposal related to special education. Many lines of the text are struck through or in red.
“Right now the bargaining team is going over 10 pages of responses from the board,” Gunderson tweeted. “We are reaching tentative agreements on many items. We are experts at grading homework — every word counts.” — Hannah Leone
1 p.m. Wednesday: Lightfoot’s budget has TIF money for schools — but it’s unlikely to change the equation in teacher talks
The unions for CPS teachers and support staff have made much of the fact that the proceeds from Chicago’s tax increment financing districts — a development incentive tool known as a TIF — often benefit private developers and not the public schools.
To that end, Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s budget, unveiled Wednesday, includes an additional $66 million in TIF surplus for CPS, bringing the total to about $161 million.
But that shouldn’t have much impact on what’s on the table in contract talks with teachers and support staff. That money is already accounted for in the schools’ budget and contract offer, administration officials said. — Gregory Pratt
12:50 p.m. Wednesday: CPS workers say the real financial pinch will come with a long strike
Teachers and classroom assistants at the Thompson Center rally say that the financial toll of the walkout will be felt in early November, when they’re supposed to get their checks for last week and this week.
Maria Vargas, a second grade teacher at Grissom Elementary, said that in her household that includes her husband and two elementary school children, she makes the most money, and so when she’s not getting paid, the household feels the strain.
“I may have to take out a loan just to keep me afloat,” Vargas said.
Natalie Salazar, a special education teacher at Grissom, said many teachers are also parents who have children in CPS, and so have to deal with child care costs.
Child care for her child, a second grade student at Poe Elementary, costs $40 a day, she said. — Elaine Chen
12:15 p.m. Wednesday: Rally, march wrap up after protesters circle the block chanting ‘Shut it down!’
At the Thompson Center, protesters circled around the block, with many chanting “Shut it down!” along the street late Wednesday morning.
Earlier, as protesters circled City Hall, hundreds sat in the middle of the street in protest near Clark and Randolph streets. Handfuls of demonstrators carrying picket signs gradually got up and left the scene close to noon, with most crowds dispersing onto nearby businesses and lunch spots in the Loop. — Jessica Villagomez
11:45 a.m. Wednesday: ‘You save for the summer and you save for the strike’
Adele Jones works as an International Baccalaureate coordinator at Mollison Elementary School and said the teachers union last year recommended teachers save for a possible strike. Currently, she is expecting a paycheck Friday from the last pay period.
“We have to make responsible decisions with our money. We still have money that will be coming, but once the time of the strike has lapsed it stops,” said Jones, standing at Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street following the march and rally.
Jones added that teachers do not get paid in the summer months and often save money throughout the year.
“It’s a lot of saving. You save for the summer and you save for the strike. But definitely there are teachers having financial hardship right now.”
Jones said she knows teachers who are working side jobs like food delivery.
“Sometimes you do whatever you need to do to support your family,” she said. — Jessica Villagomez and Marie Fazio
11:29 a.m. Wednesday: Some teachers starting to feel the pinch of longer strike
As Lightfoot spoke to a packed City Council chamber, and demonstrators’ chants echoed off City Hall’s outer walls, some teachers said they were beginning to feel the pinch of a prolonged strike.
“I’m really considering Ubering for the first time,” said Paul Allen, a second grade teacher at Fort Dearborn Elementary in the Brainerd neighborhood on the South Side.
“You’ve got to start thinking of ways to generate income for yourself, with no resolution in sight,” he said.
Allen said he lives in a dual-income household. He could rely on help from family if needed. He’s still not sure the walkout will end soon.
“You don’t have an income, and as an educator you don’t do this to become rich,” Allen said. “Now people are drawing those proverbial battle lines in the sand.”
Chanel Thornton, a Fort Dearborn math teacher, said she assigned her students’ homework last week expecting them to be back in classes on Monday.
“I’m shocked that it’s gone on this long,” Thornton said. “I don’t understand how we can deny the children of this city when they’re crying out. They need that counselor, they need that social worker, they need that nurse. I’m kind of appalled that the powers in the city don’t see this as a worthwhile thing to fund.”
Thornton speculated the city’s economy would begin to see an impact as teachers cut back spending. She’s single, but cutting spending on little luxuries and putting off planned home maintenance.
“I live in the city, I work in the city, I spend my money in the city. Now I won’t be spending that money in the city,” Thornton said. “We all need each other for this experiment of democracy and capitalism to work. We need the people at the bottom to make more.” — Juan Perez Jr.
11:12 a.m. Wednesday: ‘These are issues that have been swept under the rug for years’
Daniel Santiago, a CPS parent, watched the demonstrations from outside the Daley Center.
Pulling up a photo he just took with his children’s teachers, he said he fully supports the strike.
“When you hear their reasoning (for going on strike), you agree with them,” Santiago said, noting that he especially thinks class sizes need to be reduced. “These are issues that have been swept under the rug for years.”
Santiago has four children in CPS schools, Taft High School, Hitch Elementary School and Walt Disney Magnet Elementary School, he said, and they’ve been looked after by his wife, a stay-at-home mother. On Saturday, he sent his oldest son to Phoenix to have him “spend time with grandpa.”
He’ll have his son come back when the strike is over, Santiago said, and in the meantime, he will continue to be “100 percent” behind the strike. — Elaine Chen
11:01 a.m. Wednesday: Updated street closures from the city
11 a.m. Wednesday: ‘They couldn’t believe other kids at other schools don’t have the things that they have’
Anne Gray, a teacher at the Franklin Fine Arts Center, stood at the corner of Clark and Washington streets with her two children, Maeve, 9, and Everett, 7, both bundled up in coats and hats. She said the experience has helped her kids learn about the inequity in public schools.
“They couldn’t believe other kids at other schools don’t have the things that they have,” Gray said.
Maeve said she felt excited to be in the crowd. She attended the 2012 protests as a 2-year-old but doesn’t remember them. To prepare for this rally, she made a sign that said, “My clerk is good at taking my temperature but that’s not her job.”
Gray explained that the school clerk at Hamilton Elementary is frequently interrupted to take students’ temperatures when there is no nurse. When her son fell and split his head at preschool, his teacher had to stop the bleeding because there was no nurse, she said.
Gray and her kids met up with their teachers and marched with them for a while. Gray said her son was so happy to see his teacher, he cried, though she said exhaustion may have been a factor.
“We’re in it for the long haul,” Gray said. “We’re in it until every kid gets what they need.” — Marie Fazio
10:57 a.m.: Read Lightfoot’s budget speech and plan
Read the full text of Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s 2020 budget speech here and see the full details of her plan here. Get the latest updates on the mayor’s speech here.
10:47 a.m. Wednesday: ‘Whatever point they have, it’s a beautiful thing to see these people sticking together’
As the demonstrators marched north on Dearborn Street toward Randolph Street, Jeff Pszonka of Wheatfield, Indiana, stood on the northeast corner, smoking a cigarette and sipping McDonald’s coffee. He’s a member of Carpenters Local 1005 and wore a sticker-covered hard hat.
“It makes me proud,” said Pszonka, who was in town for work on Macy’s State Street store. “Whatever point they have, it’s a beautiful thing to see these people sticking together. … I’m for whatever they’re for.”
Elsewhere, a demonstrator marching south on Clark Street outside City Hall wore a sign calling out Gov. J.B. Pritzker. “J.B. where you at?” the sign read.
Pritzker spokeswoman Jordan Abudayyeh released the following statement: “The governor hopes the Chicago Board of Education and CTU can quickly reach an agreement that is good for students, educators and taxpayers.” — Daniel Petrella
10:42 a.m. Wednesday: ‘Mom, when are we going back to school?’
Amalia Lopez, a teacher at Ogden International School’s West Campus, said her 7-year-old son woke up Wednesday morning and said he wanted to come to the rally.
She’s been making up for missed classes with work at home but acknowledged many kids don’t have access to the resources she does during the strike.
Her son, a second grader at Inter-American Magnet School, keeps asking Lopez, “Mom, when are we going back to school?”
She said it’s “heartbreaking” to have to explain to him why there are no classes. “We’re a little hopeless,” she said.
As she spoke, her son stood shivering in front of her in a black puffy jacket with his hood pulled over his head. He did not look up from the ground.
Around 10:15 a.m., a few minutes after Lightfoot was scheduled to deliver her budget address, many protesters sat down in the street surrounding City Hall, flags and signs raised in the air. A trumpet and drums played a rendition of “We Are Family” as various chants echoed around the block. — Marie Fazio
10:32 a.m. Wednesday: ‘If you have good schools, you have good citizens’
Carolina Escobar was visiting Chicago from Mexico City on Wednesday and said she admired the dedication of the teachers, pointing to the hundreds of protesters sitting in the middle of the street on Randolph and Clark streets.
“Education should be a priority of this country. If you have good schools, you have good citizens,” she said. — Jessica Villagomez
10:20 a.m Wednesday: 2012 strike didn’t hurt son’s education, so former Whitney Young parent finds it easier to support 2019 action
Groups were circling City Hall and gathering in the Thompson Center plaza.
Albert Ferolie, a private practice attorney, watched those rallying outside an entrance to the Daley Center.
He said he supports the strike now and supported the strike in 2012, when his son was a freshman at Whitney Young Magnet High School, although “it was more challenging” to support the strike back then.
“Perspective is position,” he said, noting that in 2012, the strike significantly affected his daily life as he had to make arrangements for his son, but now, when he no longer has a child in CPS, “I just have to cut across a group of people to get to the Daley Center, that’s how it affects my daily life.”
The 2012 strike didn’t have any long-term negative effects on his son’s education, Ferolie said, and that “confirms that I like the concept (of a strike), that if you’re trying to change your work conditions and you bring that to the attention of the community that you’re living in a very direct manner and you do it in a correct form, then that’s good for you.” — Elaine Chen
10:06 a.m. Wednesday: CTU supporters gather outside City Hall as aldermen assemble for Lightfoot’s budget address
“Hey Lori!” a union supporter bellowed into a megaphone outside City Hall, minutes before aldermen assembled to for Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s budget address. “Come out and play!”
Clad in work boots and a plaid shirt, Chris Feret paused on Clark Street to smoke a cigarette and watch.
“I think they’re doing the right thing,” Feret said as a crush of demonstrators swaggered a few feet away. “They have to fight for what they’re fighting for. They’re the ones that have to put up with all of this. I think it makes it harder for them to teach when they’ve got to jump through all these hoops just to make it through the day.”
The 30-year county worker said he lives in the suburbs. But he appreciated the push for smaller class sizes and more nurses in a school building.
“I don’t know anything about what teachers make, but it’s the other things pertaining to the schools that matter,” Feret said. “That’s more my concern, the kids.”
Inside, observers had to pass two checkpoints manned by police and city staff to reach the council chambers. — Juan Perez Jr.
10:04 a.m. Wednesday: Mom watching protest says ‘this is worth it,’ but ‘Hopefully everything gets settled’ soon
Leonela Delgado, of Douglas Park, was walking downtown to catch an appointment when she stopped at the Daley Center to marvel at the large groups of protesters.
Delgado, who has two sons, ages 16 and 18, said she supported the teachers strike.
“Our teachers need support from our community, I hope they get what they want,” she said in Spanish. Delgado added that she sympathizes with parents with younger children who are put in a difficult position seeking child care.
“My kid can just watch TV,” she said in Spanish. “I’d prefer for him to be in school but this is worth it. A lot of moms complain about missing school but the teachers need this. The school has helped me so much.”
Delgado added that she worries about the strike going forward into next week. “Hopefully everything gets settled,” she said. — Jessica Villagomez
9:56 a.m. Wednesday: Lightfoot delivers her first budget plan
Mayor Lori Lightfoot is delivering her 2020 budget plan today, as she looks to dig the city out of a daunting $838 million deficit. Get the latest updates here.
9:47 a.m. Wednesday: ‘I think they should get paid more’
One man who said he worked for the Law Department stood on Clark Street with a cart full of bins of documents. He said he was trying to deliver court files to judges but was trapped by the demonstrators.
“I don’t mind,” he said as the teachers walked by slowly. “I think they should get paid more.” — Marie Fazio
9:37 a.m. Wednesday: Loop workers cheer and voice support
Workers in office buildings on Dearborn and Washington streets waved from the windows. Teachers marching cheered and waved back, chanting “Thank you!” at the supporters. — Jessica Villagomez
9:30 a.m. Wednesday: ‘It’s hard to be on strike’
“Hey Lori, I wanna know will you save our schools,” sang a group as they passed City Hall on LaSalle Street several looking upward toward the looming building, as if directing their words at officials inside.
Trisha Chmielinksi, an instructional coach at McCormick Elementary in Little Village, said that the passion of the strikers is as high as it was on day one, although a little tired.
“It’s hard being on strike,” she said. “It’s harder to be on strike than in the classroom.”
She said teachers may start to feel financial stress soon, but that many have had parents or friends pledge money to help them until the strike is over.
Outside City Hall, people dressed in business professional attire pushed their way through the strikers to enter the building. — Marie Fazio
9:17 a.m. Wednesday: ‘We’re here until our schools get what they need’
Elizabeth Carrick teaches dual language preschool at Bateman Elementary and was gathering teachers from her school to group up during the march to City Hall. The energy on day five of the strike remained high, she said.
“My energy has kept up, the energy from my school has too. Coming here and being together, even if people are getting discouraged by stalls in bargaining, that’s why we’re here. We want to show the board that we’re here until our schools get what they need,” she said.
Carrick said that she is determined to remain striking until the demands from CTU are met.
“It’s cold. It’s early in the morning. We have been doing this every day. We aren’t doing this for fun,” she said. — Jessica Villagomez
9 a.m. Wednesday: Striking school bus aides ride to protest in a school bus
More than 20 striking members of the Service Employees International Union Local 73 packed inside a school bus Wednesday morning, like many of them do on a normal workday.
The group of bus aides, janitors and other CPS workers took a school bus from union headquarters at 300 S. Ashland Ave. to a large union rally with striking teachers at City Hall.
On the way, they went out of their way to drive past areas where they said their tax dollars are going to instead of their paychecks. They looked out the window as their union president, Dian Palmer, pointed to luxury apartments and the Wintrust Arena.
“We’re not taking this anymore,” Palmer shouted through a white bullhorn. — Paige Fry
8:51 a.m. Wednesday: Bystander sympathizes with the ‘headache’ parents are having, but ‘don’t shortchange the teachers, period’
Anissa Ivory, of the south suburbs, works in a building near the Willis Tower and watched from the sidewalk as protesters marched east on Jackson Boulevard.
“I’m with them, I’ve been hearing about the protests and I walked in this morning and saw them. I took some photos, I’m proud of them. I support the teachers.”
Ivory, however, said she is not a CPS parent and sympathizes with the inconveniences of finding child care during the strike.
“I can only imagine the headache for parents that are in CPS but they’re our teachers and staff. Don’t shortchange teachers, period.”
Many commuters stopped as they walked through the Loop to take photos of the large crowds before moving along. — Jessica Villagomez
8:45 a.m. Wednesday: Strike difficult for teacher who has kids in CPS, but ‘spirits are up’
Venetia Colón, a math teacher at Whitney Young Magnet High School, said the strike has been especially difficult for her as a CPS mom of two boys, ages 8 and 12.
“The teachers are here for them, we aren’t abandoning them. I was hoping there’d be no strike but unfortunately there is.”Colón said the strike has unified educators across the country and in the city.
“In general the spirits are up. Teachers feel like we need to support each other and make sure that our kids are supported.”Groups of teachers representing different neighborhood schools gathered next to signs with their respective school names.
Many seized the opportunity to take group photos with their picket signs.
Protesters began marching east on Jackson Boulevard, completely blocking the street. — Jessica Villagomez
8:45 Wednesday: Streets closed as teachers, union supporters begin to march
Commuters were advised to use public transportation if traveling in the Loop. Around 8:45 a.m., a police spokeswoman said officers had put up barricades, closing off portions of Randolph, LaSalle and Franklin streets as well as Wacker Drive, though authorities said the exact cross streets for the closures were not immediately available. A perimeter was also being set up around City Hall, which will close streets to vehicle traffic, a spokeswoman said.
8:15 a.m. Wednesday: CTU President Jesse Sharkey, others speak at Willis Tower before march
Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey made brief comments in advance of the planned march, including answering a question about whether Tuesday’s campaign stop by Democratic presidential candidate U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren and support from former Vice President Joe Biden have translated into any offers of financial support.
“Betsy DeVos has not called me with a billion dollars unfortunately,” Sharkey said, referencing the U.S. secretary of education. “This ultimately isn’t going to be about a wealthy donor.”
Sharkey was joined by Mueze Bawany, a teacher at Roberto Clemente Community Academy in West Town. He said walking out of the high school and looking at Western Avenue and Division Street, it’s like “a tale of two cities,” with wealthy Wicker Park and struggling Humboldt Park.
“We’re fighting for our kids because we keep them in our hearts. No one got into this to be rich,” he said.
Sharkey emphasized the connection between Wednesday’s demonstrations and what union leadership sees as the misdirection of city funds to developers in already affluent neighborhoods, particularly the Lincoln Yards development, in which developer Sterling Bay is slated to get $1.3 billion in taxpayer funding.
“If there’s a billion dollars for wealthy developers, there needs to be money for our schools to get a contract,” Sharkey said. — Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas
6:05 a.m. Wednesday: City warns of stalled traffic
Police said additional officers will be downtown and warned that traffic congestion could continue into the afternoon. Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi wrote on social media: “Please consider using (Chicago Transit Authority) and avoid driving in the Loop.”
The Chicago Department of Transportation joined other city agencies in urging commuters to use mass transit Wednesday to avoid anticipated delays from rotating street closures in the Loop.
“Streets that may be closed to traffic on a rotating basis include Randolph, Washington, Clark, LaSalle, Franklin and Wacker Drive,” wrote spokesman Michael Claffey in an email. Bartoli, the police spokeswoman also said the rotating closures would not be announced until it was clear where foot traffic was overwhelming vehicular traffic. — Katherine Rosenberg-Douglas
5:55 a.m. Wednesday: Police say officers will be deployed throughout Loop for traffic control
What do you think about the Chicago teachers strike?
What are your thoughts, questions or concerns about how the Chicago teachers strike could affect you, the city or your neighborhood? Let us know here.
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