Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s administration on Monday asked a Cook County judge to order striking city teachers back to work, but the judge didn’t immediately agree to hear the issue until Wednesday, according to a city Law Department spokesman.

Emanuel’s plan to file an injunction against the union came Sunday night, a couple of hours after the governing body of the Chicago Teachers Union, its House of Delegates, voted to continue its strike. The delegates plan to meet again Tuesday and could vote to end he strike then, putting kids back in school on Wednesday.

In its legal filing, the Chicago Board of Education argued getting kids back into school immediately is a matter of public safety.

“All of these students now face the all too real prospect of prolonged hunger, increased risk of violence, and disruption of critical educational services, and all because of decisions not of their making, in which they did not have a voice or a vote,” the city’s filing reads.

The city also argued the Chicago Teachers Union strike, now in its second week, is illegal because teachers are striking due to some non-economic reasons, which the city says violates state law.

Meanwhile, the union renewed its war of words with Emanuel’s administration in a statement released shortly after the Board of Education filed its motion.

“CPS’ spur-of-the-moment decision to seek injunctive relief some six days later appears to be a vindictive act instigated by the mayor,” CTU spokeswoman Stephanie Gadlin said in the statement. “This attempt to thwart our democratic process is consistent with Mayor Emanuel’s bullying behavior toward public school educators.”