If teachers do not return to classrooms on Monday, Chicago Public Schools officials said they will be labeled as “absent without leave” and cannot resume remote learning until returning to in-person classrooms.
The school system’s threat follows Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s urge for students and teachers to return to the classroom. Lightfoot said the Chicago Teachers Union must comply with the system’s return-to-class plan, which called for kindergarten through eighth grade students and teachers to report for class.
“All teachers, pre-K through eight and cluster teachers, must report,” Lightfoot said in a press conference. “If you don’t have an approved accommodation, we expect to see you back in class. Those who do not report to work … we will have to take action. Let’s avoid that.”
Nearly 77,000 students were expected to return to Chicago classrooms on Monday, though the mayor has since pushed back the opening date for students to Tuesday. Speculation still looms about the likelihood of bringing students back as the union continues negotiations with the school board on a safe reopening of classrooms.
We’re ready to reach a final resolution with our labor partners, but that won’t happen until CTU leadership acknowledges that public health experts — from Chicago-based medical professionals to Dr. Fauci — are encouraging schools to reopen. https://t.co/2QoBUaBU12
— Janice K. Jackson (@janicejackson) February 1, 2021
The dissonance between CPS and CTU protocols for reopening led to a week of negotiations last week about several “key elements” that union members want to see met before returning to classrooms, including a vaccination plan for staff, a health metric that shuts down schools during outbreaks, and remote accommodations for teachers who live with people with medical conditions, according to a readout from CPS.
CTU President Jesse Sharkey said on Sunday evening that the key elements highlighted were a “sign of progress.”
Some parents of CPS students have been outraged about the continued remote learning, which has left many guardians worried about the quality of education their children receive with remote learning, also raising concerns about the isolation and lack of connection that remote learning is causing for some students.
Both CPS and CTU accused each other of fumbling communications about negotiations on Sunday, with CTU officials saying that Lightfoot and CPS leaders told them “not to attend” negotiations unless rank-and-file members of the union were prepared to make “major concessions.”
Fact check: Our bargaining team was told by CTU leadership that they were unavailable to meet until they could develop a response to our most recent offer. Our team has been standing by all day. https://t.co/h1NzrW3Fkl
— Chicago Public Schools (@ChiPubSchools) January 31, 2021
CPS said its bargaining team was “told by CTU leadership that they were unavailable to meet until they could develop a response to our most recent offer.”
A spokesperson for CTU declined to comment to the Washington Examiner but referenced a livestreamed Sunday night meeting for updates about the negotiations. CPS did not immediately respond for comment.
