CHICAGO-- Negotiators seeking an end to Chicago's teachers strike sound more hopeful than they have in weeks, announcing they have achieved a "framework" that could bring students back to the classroom by Monday.

But the leader of the teachers union cautions against assuming the nearly weeklong walkout is over until her members have seen the final offer in writing in a meeting scheduled for Sunday.

"They are suspicious, you have to understand," Karen Lewis told reporters after a meeting with nearly 800 members of the union's House of Delegates. "We have been a little burnt by the (school) board in the past."

The two sides in the dispute each were careful not to describe Friday's deal as a final agreement, and they declined to release any terms. They expected to spend the weekend working out details before union delegates vote on whether to call off the walkout, probably on Sunday.

Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who has blasted the union for engaging in a "strike of choice," sounded optimistic, saying "the tentative framework is an honest and principled compromise that is about who we all work for: the students."

Copyright © 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.