The Chicago Teachers Union agreed to a tentative deal with the public school system to reopen schools.
The union, which had threatened to strike unless its coronavirus prevention mandates were met, voted on the proposed framework for returning to in-person learning early Wednesday morning, according to a union statement. Just before 12:30 a.m., they held a vote in which 13,681 members voted to agree to the proposal, while 6,585 voted against it. Had the vote gone the other way, a lockout or strike could have ensued.
The union, in its announcement, referred to the agreement as the absolute “limit” to which the school system was “willing to go at the bargaining table to guarantee a minimum number of guardrails for any semblance of safety in schools.”
Union President Jesse Sharkey blasted the agreement in an email to members. The plan is beneath “what any of us deserve,” Sharkey said, calling the decision not to “delay reopening a few short weeks” a “disgrace.”
Sharkey referred to the deal as “a stain on the record of their administration” and claimed the school system was not “humane.”
“Be clear: Basic safety shouldn’t even be a negotiation, let alone a privilege — yet it is in Chicago, under this mayor. It’s time for mayoral control of our public schools to end,” he wrote regarding Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has pushed for the reopening of schools. “That’s why delegates overwhelmingly passed a vote of no confidence in the mayor and the leadership of the Chicago Public Schools on Monday night.”
Pre-kindergarten and special education students whose parents want them back in the classroom can start attending classes as early as Thursday, according to CBS2 Chicago. Elementary school students are eligible to return on March 1, with middle schoolers a week after that. There have been no plans announced for high school students’ return.
The Chicago Public School system has offered remote learning to the 340,000 children in the district since spring 2020 when the pandemic began sweeping through the country. But, as the school year has progressed, some parents have expressed concern 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.
