CHICAGO (AP) – The Chicago Teachers’ Union said on Sunday that its members voted against the order to return to the classroom because of concerns about COVID-19, setting up a confrontation with district officials who said that refusing to return when ordered would be tantamount. to an illegal strike.
OREGON GOV. BROWN CRITICIZED FOR TEACHER VACCINATION PLAN BEFORE ELDERLY TO REOPEN SCHOOLS
The Chicago Public Schools, which is the nation’s third largest district, wanted about 10,000 teachers from kindergarten through eighth grade and other employees to return to classes on Monday to prepare to welcome around 70,000 students back. for part-time classes at the school starting on February 1st There is no return date for high school students.
The teachers’ union, however, opposed the plan on concern for the health of its members and urged them to continue teaching at home, challenging the district plan. The union said the district’s security plan was insufficient and that before teachers could safely return to schools, vaccinations would have to be more widespread and different measures to measure infections would need to be implemented.
“There is no doubt that we all want to go back to face-to-face education. The issue is the current unpreparedness of the CPS for a return to face-to-face education and the clear and present danger it poses to the health of our families and school communities,” the union said in an announcement.
BOSTON COLLEGE ENCOURAGES STUDENT REPORTS ON CORONAVIRUS INFRINGEMENTS, INCLUDING USE OF THE ‘IMPROPER’ MASK
The two sides have been negotiating for months and negotiations continued after the vote was announced in the hope of reaching an agreement.
CPS officials said on Sunday that they had agreed to delay the return of teachers for two days to give the sides more time to negotiate. But they said that elementary and high school teachers must still resume face-to-face classes on February 1.
“Now we agree on much more than we disagree, but our discussions continue, and more time is needed to reach a resolution,” said district CEO Janice Jackson in a statement.
School officials argued that remote learning is not working for all students, including many low-income students and blacks and Latinos who make up most of the district. The district’s security plan includes thousands of air purifiers, more cleaning and a voluntary testing program.
The student district of about 355,000, which took full-time online classes last March because of the pandemic, is gradually getting students back. Thousands of kindergarten and special education students resumed face-to-face learning earlier this month and teachers who did not return to classrooms were punished.
The union also argued that schools do not need to be fully equipped less often than expected.
CPS data showed that about 19% of students eligible for pre-K classroom learning and special education earlier this month attended. That number was even lower than a December survey that showed that about 6,500 of the nearly 17,000 eligible preschool and special education students were interested.
MIGUEL CARDONA: WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE CHOICE OF THE BIDEN SECRETARY OF EDUCATION
The union’s collective bargaining agreement, which was approved after a 2019 strike, prohibits its approximately 25,000 members from going on strike and prevents district authorities from blocking them. District officials said a union vote to disobey the order to return to schools on Monday would violate the contract.
Union officials, however, say that returning to instructions personally before their members are vaccinated and without other safeguards would put them at greater risk of contracting the virus. They argue that if the district tries to punish teachers for staying home on Monday, the district will be responsible for a work stoppage.
Illinois on Monday is scheduled to begin the next phase of its vaccination plan, which expands eligibility for teachers and people 65 and older. The district said on Friday that it would start vaccinating teachers and staff from mid-February and that the process would take months.
CLICK HERE FOR THE FOX NEWS APP
The Chicago vote comes at a time of great uncertainty in the United States about how and when schools should resume face-to-face education.
President Joe Biden has promised to reopen most schools within his first 100 days in office. He is promising new federal guidelines on school opening decisions and a “large-scale” Department of Education effort to identify and share the best ways to teach during a pandemic.