CHICAGO — Chicago Public Schools parents were left in limbo again about the fate of classroom instruction as the district and the Chicago Teachers Union continued negotiations Wednesday over enhanced COVID-19 safety measures.
District officials canceled Wednesday classes after the union endorsed a plan Tuesday to refuse to work in person during a city spike in infections.
The union, using the hashtag #LoriLockout, tweeted Wednesday that it’s been “inundated with calls and emails this morning from educators” who say they’ve been unable to log into their CPS accounts to teach remotely, as was the CTU’s stated intention.
CPS could not immediately be reached to confirm whether staff members have been locked out or how many, though Mayor Lori Lightfoot did warn late Tuesday that teachers who did not show up will be docked pay. By Wednesday evening, it remained unclear if classes — in person or otherwise — would take place Thursday.
The stalemate made national news, with White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki saying the nation is “more than equipped to ensure schools are open ... including in Chicago.” Former President Donald Trump said that “what is happening in Chicago with all the school closures is devastating.”
“Educate our children in person or give every dollar spent on education directly to the students so they can get out of these failing government schools!” Trump said in a statement.
At a virtual press conference Wednesday morning, CTU President Jesse Sharkey said negotiators were headed back to the bargaining table.
“We are going to talk to them as much as we need to, around the clock when necessary,” he said.
The CTU measure, which won 73% of the vote, is to work remotely from Wednesday to Jan. 18 unless a safety agreement with CPS is reached or the omicron-fueled COVID-19 surge subsides. Sharkey said nearly 20,000 of the union’s 25,000 rank-and-file members submitted an electronic ballot Tuesday.
CPS representatives blasted the decision in a late Tuesday statement, saying they are “deeply concerned” about how it will affect the health, safety and well-being of district students and families.
“Despite six months of active, good-faith discussions with the CTU, despite the fact that more than 90 percent of our staff is vaccinated, despite proven and implemented COVID-19 safety measures, and despite little evidence of in-school transmission, our teachers are not willing to report to work,” the CPS statement read.
The district said it will share its plans with parents by the end of Wednesday.
CPS and CTU did not negotiate a safety agreement for this school year after having one in place last year. The sides have yet to come to terms on a metric that would move an individual school to remote learning; expanded testing in schools; and the distribution of N95 masks.
CTU’s proposal submitted last week called for a negative test result to return to buildings and an expansion of the in-school weekly testing program that’s mandatory for unvaccinated staff members and voluntary for students. About 33,000 tests were administered the last week of school before winter break, with district officials promising for months that capacity would reach 40,000 weekly tests.
As of late last month, 41,690 students and 24,933 staff members were registered for the testing program, according to the district. CPS officials said some students may have registered before getting vaccinated in the fall and decided not to show up for weekly testing.
The union also asked for N95 or equivalent masks to be provided to students and staff members and an increase in vaccination opportunities at schools. Short of that, the CTU demanded the district transition to remote learning for two weeks.
CPS submitted a proposal to the union Tuesday promising to provide 200,000 KN95 masks to staff; to offer at least 30,000 screening tests in schools per week; and to transition a school to virtual instruction if 40% or more of a school’s classroom teachers are absent for two consecutive days because they tested positive for COVID, among other scenarios.
“What I’m trying to understand is, how many adults need to be in the school building in order for education and supervision to be adequate? All this week we have been getting reports of classes being doubled up, tripled up in large spaces, cafeterias, auditoriums with a warm body. We don’t have staffing,” CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates said at Wednesday’s press conference.
“Their proposal still fall shorts to be perfectly honest with you because it says that you could be missing 40% of grownups in the school building and you can still be in session. How does that work? That’s almost half.”
CPS students and staff members returned to school buildings Monday after a two-week winter break. District representatives said 82% of teachers reported to work Monday. Student attendance figures for this week were not immediately available from CPS.
A survey of 225 schools by the Chicago Principals and Administrators Association determined that about a third of CPS students did not attend classes Monday. More than half the kids were absent at 24 of the surveyed schools. The district runs around 515 schools.
More than 20% of the staff was absent at 61 of the surveyed schools, with one school reporting 85% staff absent.
The principals group recommends the district go remote for one or two weeks in January to ensure a safe return to in-person learning.
As of Tuesday evening, about 8,000 CPS students and a record 2,000 staff members were in isolation because they tested positive for COVID-19 or quarantine because they came in close contact with someone who had. Fully vaccinated, asymptomatic staff members and students are not required to quarantine.
About 11% of the 9,700 people who participated in the in-school testing program this week have tested positive, according to district data, a much higher percentage than usual.
CPS says about 91% of its staff is fully vaccinated. Just over half of CPS students aged 12 and older are fully vaccinated, according to the district, with about a quarter of the students 5 to 11 years old having received at least one dose. More than 330,000 students are enrolled in CPS, the nation’s third-largest school district.
The Illinois State Board of Education says school districts may not pause in-person learning without first consulting with their local health department. Remote learning days must be offered for the duration. City public health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said Tuesday she is “extremely comfortable” with in-person instruction continuing in Chicago as the risk of in-school transmission remains low and few Chicago kids are hospitalized with COVID-19.
--------
