A tentative deal between Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) may have been reached on Friday, Chicago's WGN News reports.

photo: peoplesworld via Flickr The agreement, which would have students and teachers back in the classroom on Monday, still must be approved by the union's House of Delegates.

"We have the outlines of an agreement on the major issues, but it's not for this (negotiating) committee to decide if we have a deal," CTU attorney Robert Bloch said. "It's for the membership of the union to decide that, and it's for the House of Delegates to determine whether we'll suspend the strike."

“We are hopeful that we will have a complete agreement by Sunday, that when the House of Delegates review it, that they will have confidence in that agreement and that they will vote to suspend the strike so that students can return to school on Monday,” Bloch said.

However, as In These Times Kari Lydersen points out, the Chicago Teachers Union writes on its own Facebook page: "If you didn't hear it from CTU, it isn't true," implying that the "deal" reported by news agencies may be no deal at all.

Friday was the fifth day of the strike, the first in 25 years.