The only solution to a possible strike by city school-bus drivers is for the union to back off its demands, Schools Chancellor Dennis Walcott said yesterday.

Walcott insisted that his hands are tied as far as reinserting job-protection provisions into new contract bids because the courts have ruled them illegal.

Local 1181 of the Amalgamated Transit Union has demanded that the decades-old protections — which it says were not voided outright by the 2011 court ruling — remain in place.

The union said it will “make a conscious effort to inform” parents in the event of a strike.