Fourteen members of his extended family tested positive after suffering together for the loss of their grandmother last November.
So Torres feels more secure at home – and that’s where she plans to stay and her three children.
As a Spanish teacher at James Monroe Elementary School in Chicago, she has hundreds of other children who also depend on her. But in the pandemic, she chose to put the family first.
“I have to worry not only about what my students are up against, but also about what my family and I are up against,” she told CNN. “I think it’s okay that, at a time like this, I take a step back and consider myself at this point.”
Torres has a powerful ally on his side: the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). And the union has a powerful weapon at its disposal: the ability to attack.
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Dr. Janice Jackson said the district has plans to mitigate the spread of any coronavirus outbreak in schools. She and other school officials believe it is time to bring everyone back to the classroom.
More than 70,000 elementary and high school students – about 37% of qualified students – have indicated to the school district that they intend to return on February 1.
CTU told its members to be prepared to strike if the school district retaliates for teachers who choose to continue teaching online – but neither the retaliation nor the strike has taken place.
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said at a recent news conference that she is “deeply disappointed” that 10 months after the start of the pandemic, with plans done and work done, there is still no agreement between CPS and CTU – especially as city officials pointed to dividing it as more than just a mitigation problem for Covid.
Jackson said the vast majority of students whose grades are falling and being drastically impacted by Covid-19 are black and Latino students.
“If people don’t see it as a heritage issue, I really don’t know what else to say,” said Jackson.
Torres remains frustrated by the school district’s insistence that teachers return.
“My first reaction was just ‘inhumane’,” she said. “I am comfortable at home. It is safer at home. It may not be true for everyone. And we understand that, but the reality is that it is too soon. If it comes to that, I am prepared to attack.”
Some parents are unsure whether to send their children back to school
Many parents know that much of the burden that is generally relieved by the face-to-face school also falls on them.
Steven Keys, the father of a 2nd and 7th grader, said it simply: “Every day is like a different test.”
His wife Reella Garcia listed the multiple roles she now has to fulfill for her children in virtual learning – teacher, mother, lunch cook and more.
Even so, the couple is concerned about sending their children back to school.
“We are not entirely comfortable with that – hearing that it is possibly a new strand from Covid that is supposed to hit us,” said Garcia. “And just knowing that my kids would have to be sitting there all the time with a mask on.”
As a family with a father and mother, they know they have options.
“We want to make sure that we’re not just, you know, speeding our kids up and putting them in a situation where we just want them out,” Keys said.
“We understand that this social aspect is of vital importance. I don’t believe you can replace the virtual experience with the face-to-face experience, but we know why we are in the situation we are in, because of Covid-19. “
This is one of the arguments of the Chicago Teachers’ Union: if many parents are choosing not to send their children back, why should teachers be forced into the classroom?
“There are many options that we propose for staff classrooms where children are returning without putting every member of the school community at increased risk – including thousands of educators with families at high risk for COVID.”
CDC: face-to-face learning possible with the right precautions
Torres said he believes there should be vaccinations for teachers and ensures that school ventilation systems are good enough, especially on older campuses.
Your union has a similar demand.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommend that teachers get the vaccine – along with firefighters, grocery store clerks and other essential workers – before the general population.
Teachers arrived early in the line to get photos in places like California, but for some teacher unions this is still not enough.
Experts noted that the type of dissemination seen in crowded offices and long-term care facilities was not reported in schools. And although transmission at school occurred, they said there is little evidence that it has contributed significantly to the increase in transmission in the community.
“Currently, schools in Chicago do not have access to adequate testing and screening programs, adequate PPE, ventilation and sanitation of the necessary room and priority vaccination of educators and school support staff.”
Still, Rosario Anacleto, a mother in Chicago, said her family was ready for schools to open.
“I am that mother who is constantly like, ‘Put your mask on your nose. Don’t touch it, don’t touch it,'” she told CNN. “I believe I have implemented this in their brains enough and, with the help of the school to attend and everything that is now our new normal, they will do everything right.”
Her third-year son, José Santiago, would agree.
“I really want to see my friends,” said Santiago. “When we’re at the computer, I’m going to talk to them and sometimes I get headaches and my eyes start to hurt.”