Chicago public schoolchildren will spend a seventh day out of classes Tuesday as their striking teachers weigh a tentative proposal to end their walkout.

School officials went to court Monday to ask a judge to declare the strike illegal and order the teachers back to work. A Cook County judge will hold a hearing on that request Wednesday.

In the meantime, Chicago Teachers Union delegates are scheduled to convene again Tuesday afternoon to discuss a proposed settlement. And parents and city officials scrambled to keep about 350,000 children busy and out of trouble as the strike stretched into its second week.

"It is frustrating for me that the kids are not in school, and I have to find other ways to continue their education," said parent Will White, who said he's sympathetic to both sides in the dispute. "Hopefully, it won't last too much longer ... after this week, something's going to have to change."

Chicago Public Schools, the third-largest U.S. school system, and the union struck a tentative bargain Friday afternoon. But Sunday, union members decided to continue the walkout while its they reviewed the proposal.

"We have 26,000 teachers, and they're all able to to read this document and take some time to discuss its merits or its deficiencies, and that's going to happen today," union spokesman Jackson Potter told CNN. "We're just asking people to be patient and let the process run its course."

Q&A: What's behind the Chicago teachers' strike?

But Mayor Rahm Emanuel vowed Sunday night to force the teachers back into the classroom, calling the teachers' move "a delay of choice that is wrong for our children." The school system went to court Monday morning, arguing that the walkout violates Illinois labor laws.

"State law expressly prohibits the CTU from striking over non-economic issues, such as layoff and recall policies, teacher evaluations, class sizes and the length of the school day and year," the district said in a statement. "The CTU's repeated statements and recent advertising campaign have made clear that these are exactly the subjects over which the CTU is striking."

The strike also prevents "critical educational and social services, including meals for students who otherwise may not receive proper nutrition, a safe environment during school hours and critical services for students who have special needs," the district continued.

Cook County Circuit Judge Peter Flynn has scheduled a hearing on the district's request for 10:30 a.m. Wednesday. The system isn't asking the judge to settle the dispute that led to the walkout, just to order the teachers back to work.

The union responded to the filing Monday by saying it "appears to be a vindictive act instigated by the mayor."

"This attempt to thwart our democratic process is consistent with Mayor Emanuel's bullying behavior toward public school educators," the union said.

Teachers walked off the job September 10, objecting to a longer school day, evaluations tied to student performance and job losses from school closings. Parents have juggled their families' schedules for more than a week to make sure their children are attended to while schools are closed.

"Besides the daycare issue, they just need to be in school," said Rich Lenkov, a parent who took part in a protest outside the school district's headquarters on Monday. "Their competitors in charter schools and private schools are learning, while our kids are not."

With the strike continuing, the school system planned to open 147 "Children First" sites citywide Monday for students to go to, in addition to programs run by the city's park department and neighborhood organizations, Chicago Board of Education President David Vitale said.

Vitale said that he, like the mayor, is "extremely disappointed" that such programs are necessary. "There is no reason why our kids cannot be in school while the union reviews the agreement," he said.

But Nancy Davis Winfield, the mother of another student, said she stood behind the teachers and the union.

"I think its going to be settled this week, but I understand what the teachers are doing and they've got to read that fine print," Winfield said as she picked up her daughter at a Children First program in the South Loop district.

"I feel that the whole nation needs to understand that this is a fight for the middle class," Winfield said. "Democrats are talking about supporting the middle class. This is the fight that has to be waged."