Thousands of Chicago’s educators are refusing to return to a teachers’ union’s vote over the weekend on Monday to defy a district order asking them to return to the classroom in preparation for the resumption of personal file.
Public Schools in Chicago, which is the third largest district in the state, wanted about 10,000 kindergartens to return to school this morning through eighth-grade teachers and other staff to be ready to welcome about 70,000 students back for part-time school classes from February. 1. But now, after the vote, the district has pushed back the expected return date for their staff until Wednesday, hoping to reach an agreement with the Chicago Teachers Union on their concerns about the spread of the coronavirus.
‘The scheduled return date for students in Grade K-8 remains Monday 1 February and it is our aim to reach an agreement with CTU as soon as possible to ensure that tens of thousands of additional students have the opportunity to return safely to our classrooms. “Chicago Public Schools said in a message to families Sunday.
Kindergarten learners listen on January 11 while their teacher reads a story to Dawes Elementary in Chicago. Chicago Public Schools wanted thousands of K-8 teachers and staff to return to classrooms Monday to prepare for the resumption of personal learning, but now the deadline has been delayed. (AP / Chicago Sun-Times)
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‘Students in more than 130 private and parochial schools and more than 2,000 early learning centers across the city have been learning safely in their classrooms since the fall, and we must offer the same options to our families who, without any guilt, are already unable to is to make distance education work for their children, ”he said. “We have significantly reduced the grades, attendance and enrollment for many of our students over the past few months, and the impact is felt especially by our Black and Latinx students.”
The statement also said Chicago Public Schools had agreed to a union request to postpone the return of K-8 teachers until Wednesday – but union officials called it “inaccurate” and accused the district of “trying to sow discord”. and disrupt collective action of the Union. ”
“CPS unilaterally made the decision to move the return date for K-8 teachers back to Wednesday, January 27, 2021,” the Chicago Teachers Union wrote in its own statement. “The Union currently has no agreement with the district on any terms.”
“The vast majority of our members have chosen security, unity and solidarity, and an agreement is within reach, but we need a willing partner,” added CTU President Jesse Sharkey.
Chicago CEO Janice Jackson speaks to reporters after visiting preschool classrooms at Dawes Elementary School in Chicago on January 11 (AP / Chicago Sun-Times)
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The CTU says it has a “responsible measure based on CDC guidelines, committees to enforce safety standards, return volunteer staff as workers have access to vaccines, and demand rigorous testing for students and staff to mitigate possible outbreaks. ”
“There is no doubt that we all want to return to personal education. The problem is the current unpreparedness of CPS for the return to personal education, and the clear and current danger to the health of our families and school communities,” the union said. said in a separate statement.
The district’s safety plan includes thousands of air purifiers, more cleaning and a volunteer testing program.
The approximately 355,000 student district, which turned to full-time online tuition last March due to the pandemic, has gradually welcomed students back into their facilities. Thousands of kindergartens and special education classes resumed learning earlier this month, and teachers who did not return to their classrooms were punished.
But the union also argued that schools do not need to be fully staffed with less than expected attendance.
A toddler student got his hands on Dawes Elementary in Chicago on January 11 (AP / Chicago Sun-Times)
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CPS data showed that approximately 19% of the students eligible for personal training in pre- and special training attended earlier this month. The figure was even lower than a survey in December in which about 6,500 of nearly 17,000 students eligible for pre- and special education students are eligible.
The union’s collective bargaining agreement, approved after a 2019 strike, bans about 25,000 members from striking and barring district officials from joining them. District officials said the union voted to disregard the order to return to schools Monday, violating the contract.
However, union officials say that the return to personal instructions before members are vaccinated and that no other precautions exist, runs the risk of contracting the virus. They argue that if the district tries to punish teachers for staying home on Monday, then the district is responsible for a strike.
Illinois is scheduled Monday to begin the next phase of its vaccination plan, which will increase admission to teachers and people 65 and older. The district said Friday that teachers and staff will begin vaccination from mid-February and that the process will take months.
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The vote in Chicago comes at a time of great uncertainty in the US over how and when schools should resume their own education.
President Biden undertook to reopen in office within his first hundred days. He promises new federal guidelines regarding school opening decisions, and a “large-scale” education department seeks to identify the best ways to teach during a pandemic.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.