The Chicago Teachers Union is scheduled to vote on a tentative agreement with Chicago Public Schools regarding a return to classrooms as soon as this week, officials said on Sunday.
Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Public Schools announced an agreement had been met with the Chicago Teachers Union after weeks of frustration amid negotiations between school administration officials and union leaders.
“We are here to announce the very good news that our children will be returning to in-person learning this week,” Lightfoot said. “These past 11 months have been a whirlwind for our entire city, pushing us to limits countless times. We’ve lost jobs. We’ve lost loved ones. We have all been on a nonstop emotional roller coaster that we have individually and collectively tried to navigate.”
Under the proposal, students ranging from kindergartners up to eighth graders who listed a preference to return to in-person learning will be able to return to classrooms in March, with pre-kindergarten and cluster students able to resume in-person learning possibly as early as this week.
The Chicago Teachers Union suggested an agreement to the Chicago Public Schools proposal could be met if union members are satisfied. A vote by the union’s House of Delegates to ratify the deal could occur as soon as Monday evening.
“What we have is a framework that all of our members must first review and assess, because it is our members who are being asked to return to school buildings in the midst of a global pandemic,” the union tweeted.
To recap: There is no agreement yet between the Union and the Board of Education. What we have is a framework that all of our members must first review and assess, because it is our members who are being asked to return to school buildings in the midst of a global pandemic.
— ChicagoTeachersUnion (@CTULocal1) February 7, 2021
The city government and the union have feuded over reopening issues for weeks, and each side has faulted the other for the continued closures. The Chicago Teachers Union was met with demands by Lightfoot last week calling for teachers to return to classrooms, suggesting that the unions could be negotiating in bad faith.
“Those teachers need to be there to greet their students and teach them in person,” the Democratic mayor said ahead of teachers’ threats to strike. “If the CTU continues not to show up and fails to work toward an agreement in good faith, then we will have no choice but to take further action.”
The public school district fired back against those demands, arguing that it was Lightfoot’s political calculus that was spurring the delay.
“We were well on our way, working toward an agreement around all key components with the people who are actually at the bargaining table (much like what’s happening in other cities),” Chicago Public Schools said of Lightfoot’s press conference. “The educators in the room were working toward an agreement. The politician is blowing it all to pieces.”
Additional negotiations and measures were further needed before teachers would be satisfied with returning to classrooms, the Chicago Teachers Union claimed. Points of contention during the standoff included the union’s demands for vaccinations for teachers and staff at schools, ventilation within classrooms, and contact-tracing efforts.
The agreement addressed at least some of these concerns, with one provision including vaccinating 1,500 Chicago Public Schools staffers each week. Additional staffers will receive vaccines through Chicago’s phase 1B of Illinois’s vaccine rollout plan.
The potential agreement marked the latest development in a nationwide fight over school reopenings. While local school districts, backed by teachers unions, have been reluctant to reopen due to perceived risks, local officials and parents are growing increasingly adamant that in-person learning must resume. Tensions came to a head in San Francisco last Wednesday when the local government sued its own school district over its failure to reopen.
“It’s a shame it has come to this,” said City Attorney Dennis Herrera, who initiated the lawsuit under the direction of Mayor London Breed. “The Board of Education and the school district have had more than 10 months to roll out a concrete plan to get these kids back in school. So far, they have earned an F. Having a plan to make a plan doesn’t cut it.”
Medical experts have largely backed local officials’ positions, with many arguing that in-person learning may safely resume regardless of whether educators are vaccinated.
“There is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen,” said Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Rochelle Walensky. “Safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated in order to reopen safely.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Chicago Teachers Union but did not immediately receive a response.
