President Biden declined to tell Chicago teachers on Monday to return to school after a union vote over the weekend to challenge a district order for educators to return to campuses to prepare to resume teaching. in the classroom.
The Chicago Teachers’ Union voted not to return to schools due to concerns about the spread of COVID-19. Biden gave his opinion on the matter when asked by a reporter.
“It is not so much about the idea that teachers are not going to work. The teachers I know want to work, ”he said. “They just want to work in a safe environment and … as safe as we can rationally. And we can do that.”
The Chicago Public Schools, the nation’s third-largest school district, wanted about 10,000 teachers from kindergarten through eighth grade and other employees to return to prepare to welcome some 70,000 students back to school on February 1.
The union said the district’s security plan was insufficient. Coronavirus vaccination would need to be more widespread and different metrics to measure infections would also need to be implemented before the return of teachers and staff.
In response, the union thanked Biden for his comments, saying it was “exactly what educators have been saying.”
“Thank you, President Biden. Exactly what educators have been saying and parents’ responses have been showing since last March,” said a tweet from the union.
The move to challenge the school district is in contrast to Biden’s promise to reopen schools in his first 100 days as president. He asked for $ 130 billion to help K-12 schools reopen as part of their $ 1.9 trillion coronavirus stimulation plan.
The school district also provided input on Biden’s comments on the COVID-19 tests and protocols to ensure a safe environment.
“We couldn’t agree more,” tweeted the district when announcing investments in coronavirus testing, cleaning and sanitation, and ventilation and air purification.
The strike in fact violates a 2019 collective bargaining agreement that bars strike, the Wall Street Journal reported.
The union vote prompted the district to postpone teachers’ return until Wednesday to ensure that “we have the time necessary to resolve our discussions without risking disrupting student learning,” the district said.
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.
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“Students in more than 130 private and parish schools and more than 2,000 early learning centers across the city have been learning safely in their classrooms since fall, and we must offer this same option to our families who, through no fault of their own, have been unable to make remote learning work for their children, “the district said in a statement over the weekend. “We’ve seen grades, attendance and enrollment drop significantly for many of our students in the past few months, and the impact has been felt most by our black and Latino students.”
Fox News’s Greg Norman as well as The Associated Press contributed to this report.