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* Press release last night…
More than 80 percent of the Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates — the Union’s 600-member governing body — voted to pass a resolution tonight authorizing all CTU members at CPS district schools to conduct remote work only, starting on January 25, 2021, or on whatever date Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s handpicked Chicago Board of Education requires educators teaching kindergarten through eighth grade to appear in person.
The resolution will now go to full rank-and-file membership for an electronic ballot vote on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
“This is about a pandemic that has killed 400,000 Americans, and an overwhelming majority of our delegates are resolved to putting safety first and continuing to teach remotely,” CTU President Jesse Sharkey said. “In the absence of an actual commitment on safety from CPS leadership, the best assurance we have for the safety of our students and school staff right now is to continue remote learning.”
“Our members are resolved to continue working, teaching their students and doing so safely,” President Sharkey added. “Only the mayor can force a strike, and if it comes to that, that’s her choice. We choose safety.”
COVID has now surfaced in over 50 schools since CPS began forcing pre-kindergarten teachers and special education cluster teachers back into school buildings on Jan. 4. Despite that, the mayor and CPS have refused to commit to basic safety measures such as providing clear procedures for closing a building if there is a school based outbreak, testing procedures or a meaningful health metric to determine when to move between in-person and remote learning.
CPS plans to force an additional 10,000 educators back into buildings on January 25 — the same day those workers become eligible to begin receiving a COVID vaccine as members of the 1B class of essential workers.
In Chicago — where Black and Brown communities continue to shoulder a disproportionate burden of disease and death from COVID — positivity rates remain in double digits, with roughly one in eight residents in many communities testing positive for COVID. While CPS has stalled on releasing student attendance numbers since pre-K and cluster students began returning on January 11, educators are reporting near-empty or totally empty classrooms even as CPS continues to insist that members teach from unsafe classrooms instead of the safety of their home workspaces.
Public opposition to Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot’s dangerous reopening plan continues to grow. Forty-two out of 50 aldermen have now signed onto a letter urging Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot to hold off on reopening schools until CPS and the CTU have bargained to agreement on a safe plan to return to school buildings. At the same time, a growing number community organizations and local school councils also have formally urged the mayor to hold off on reopening unsafe school buildings.
The Union will continue to bargain with the Board this week.
* CPS email to teachers today threatening to classify collective no-shows as an “illegal strike”…
* Sun-Times…
Typically, 75% of the CTU’s rank-and-file members would need to vote in favor of a walkout for a strike to be authorized. In this case, only a simple majority approval would be required, a CTU spokeswoman said, because members would be walking out over an alleged unfair labor practice — CPS’ supposed refusal to negotiate.
* WTTW…
As of Friday, CPS had labeled 87 employees as absent without leave after they refused to show up to their schools. The district said those employees would be locked out of their Google education accounts and would not be paid until they report to their buildings in person.
CPS CEO Janice Jackson has repeatedly stated she believes a deal with the union can be struck — but she said the two sides need to focus on how to reopen safely, not whether schools should reopen.
CPS has said it spent more than $100 million to ensure school buildings are safe for students and staff, and has put in place safety protocols to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. But teachers say that’s not enough, and some who have reported to schools said there are still issues.
“I know people are infatuated with this word ‘strike,’” CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates said during a press conference Wednesday morning ahead of the delegate vote, “but I am saying very clearly that our activity has been and continues to be specifically about allowing space for safety and making sure that our members, our teachers, our (paraprofessionals), our clinicians are able to continue to operate instruction remotely.”
* Tribune…
Both CPS and CTU officials, along with their respective supporters, have expressed frustration over the monthslong back-and-forth over reopening.
In her statement, Bolton also said: “In each of the more than 60 sessions that we have had with CTU leadership concerning safely re-opening our schools, the district has come to the table in good faith, and we remain committed to reaching a mutually-acceptable agreement. We have agreed to the CTU’s safety demands every step of this process and we are ready to come to a resolution that provides our families the smooth transition to in-person learning they deserve.”
She added: “CTU leadership wants to close schools that are already safely open to students, and cancel in-person learning for the tens of thousands of students who are relying on their dedicated educators to provide in-person learning in the coming weeks.”
posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 11:50 am
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Previous Post: *** UPDATED x1 *** Stop hiding behind purely process arguments
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LOL. Matt really should demand a better (less squirrelly) title than Chief Talent Officer. How embarrassing.
Comment by Responsa Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 11:54 am
My kids have been back in their (Catholic) school since August. Very few issues with safety because everyone follows the protocols. It can be done safely.
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 11:58 am
Isn’t return to the classroom something the Biden administration is going to be working with states on. This should be easy in Illinois, a state that provided much support for him in the election. /s
Comment by friendofthefamily Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 11:59 am
@47th Ward, agreed it can be done safely. My son returned to his private pre-school in October and they are doing a great job. That said, the plan CPS has adopted is far less detailed and less coherent than those of the parochial schools and of my son’s school. Prior to covid, CPS was already having difficulty keeping schools clean and they have yet to hire the 400 full time janitors that were promised under their return to learn guidelines. The biggest issue for me however is that teachers are going to be expected to teach both the in person students and remote students simultaneously. That seems like an unenviable position to be in, particularly when CPS schools have inadequate broadband to handle such a task.
If my child were in CPS, I would not have them return and would advocate that their teachers remain remote until either a)most teachers are vaccinated or b) a much better plan is created in collaboration with principals and teachers, neither of whom were consulted by CPS Central Office.
Comment by Belmont Cragin Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:12 pm
I’m still trying to figure out how CTU determines what is safe and what CPS hasn’t done. What epidemiologist’s is CTU using? Arwady used to work at the CDC as an epidemic service officer on outbreak response - specifically worked on MERS. Does CTU have someone just as credentialed in their corner advising them?
Comment by 1st Ward Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:19 pm
I don’t think CTU is reading the room accurately. Not when the Catholic schools and other school districts have had successful returns.
Comment by Original Rambler Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:20 pm
Maybe CTU President Jesse Sharkey can donate some of the almost $120K he gets from the CTU Foundation to help the front line teachers he is asking to walk off the job. He is the lowest paid of the 9 Officers and Directors listed on the 2019 tax filings for this tax exempt organization. The highest paid pulls in over $170K. This is on top of what he gets at CPS. But hey, anything for the kids.
Comment by Nagidam Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:39 pm
The fact is that most parents and families do not trust CPS to keep kids safe. This was true last summer and it’s true today.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/coronavirus/ct-covid-19-chicago-schools-remote-learning-lightfoot-20200805-l3umdst7×5d6zalh4vgqmvqpre-story.html
https://www.wbez.org/stories/only-37-of-cps-students-say-theyll-go-back-to-school-in-person-and-white-students-are-overrepresented/df3b37f4-24ec-4b21-ba1b-e26026a275f4
Comment by Precinct Captain Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:52 pm
How many times have we heard “we can do ____ safely”, only to find out yet again (*sigh*) that we in fact cannot? We do not have heard immunity yet, and large portions of the populations putting kids in public schools won’t be vaccinated for months. It’s not a question whether CTU members are at risk; it’s how long before the first school-spread cases surface. CPS should have just continued online learning for the masses for the school year. CTU (read as Mayor Lightfoot) now wants to push the return far faster than is reasonable, especially with the latest strains showing up in the area.
Comment by thisjustinagain Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:52 pm
==My kids have been back in their (Catholic) school since August. Very few issues with safety because everyone follows the protocols. It can be done safely. ==
Just because it can be done, doesn’t mean it will be done. I have several family members who are CPS teachers, and even in non-pandemic years supplies (cleaning, classrooms, etc) can be sparse. And CPS has had many issues with building cleaning/sanitation after they began contracting out.
I know CPS teachers who still don’t have hand sanitizer in their room, or were given one package of sanitizing wipes and told to tear them in half because they don’t know if they will get more.
I am not sure I would want to return to classrooms with those types of issues.
Comment by iThink Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 12:55 pm
So Chicago has a corrupt police force, a broken justice system, a school system that can’t even keep their classrooms clean or properly supplied, have an inadequate broadband system in their schools and other major problems, who’s been running this city for decades? The kids and the minorities appear to suffer greatly in the City of Chicago.
Comment by Arock Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 1:04 pm
17 Chicago area pediatricians and physicians recently penned an op-ed in support of in-person instruction.
https://chicago.suntimes.com/2020/12/29/22204984/chicago-medical-experts-in-person-learning-optimal-safe-opinion
Same is true in San Fran, Atlanta, Ann Arbor, and countless other cities where docs know the harm being done to children is extraordinary.
Science guided us until science went against the CTU.
Comment by Ed Equity Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 1:09 pm
Using allegedly successful Catholic and non-CPS public school openings as benchmarks for assessing a CPS opening appears to be comparing apples to oranges. Furthermore, a blanket opening of all CPS facilities without deep digging on the Covid situation in each area served seems illogical.
All the guidance I’ve read indicate that regardless of whether authorities focus on infection doubling or infection rate, the analysis must include local factors.
Unfortunately, CPS and CTU cannot function on a more granualr level.
Comment by Cook County Commoner Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 1:26 pm
No Shot, no school, period.Where is the plan to inoculate the CPS staff? Simple solution.
Comment by bob Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 1:28 pm
The science is with the CTU, a super-majority of CPS parents, and 42 Alderman, that at the moment, CPS schools are not safe to open. https://www.ucsf.edu/news/2020/08/418281/how-reopen-schools-safely-during-covid-19-according-pediatricians
1. CPS primarily serves student from neighborhoods with high covid risk factors.
2. CPS is an underfunded district that will not have the resources to open safely.
3. Dr. Fauci has recommend to open schools with the trade off to close bars and restaurants, yet Mayor Lightfoot is pushing ahead to reopen them for indoor dinning.
4. With a new administration in the White House more resources will be provide to offer open school and vaccinate staff.
5. Safety concerns aside, teachers will instruct simultaneously in-person and virtual making in difficult to do either well. The students will suffer even more.
The CTU has offered several compromises including letting teachers volunteer to teach in-person while the remaining teachers will teach online and extending the school year to allow teachers to be vaccinated and catch students up. Mayor Lightfoot and CPS are pushing ahead with a flawed plan that a majority of Chicagoans reject. It’s bad policy and horrible politics.
Comment by Elliot Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 2:04 pm
–Where is the plan to inoculate the CPS staff? –
Uh, the text quoted in the post states that teachers will start receiving the vaccine on Jan. 25.
CPS schools have issues: aging infrastructure, ventilation, and as another commenter noted, the outsourcing of janitorial/maintenance services has been disaster w/r/t cleanliness.
Having already gone nearly a year, it seems to me it might be worth it to wait 6-7 more weeks until teachers / teacher assistants / administration / maintenance-janitorial staff / bus drivers (and cafeteria/food service staff, if they’re returning) have been vaccinated and presumably acquired a high level of immunity.
Comment by dbk Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 2:09 pm
@47th Ward You do know there is a big difference in a private school and the public school systems right?
Comment by ConfusedWorker Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 2:39 pm
I believe schools receive state aid based upon daily attend figures. I have seen antidotal reports that only a third or so students actually do remote learning. Is the state basing aid on remote learning or just making an assumption that everyone is in school and funding as though attendance is 100 per cent? And I mean for all schools not just Chicago
Comment by DuPage Saint Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 2:58 pm
Rich why would u take down my comment
Comment by Charlie Says Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 2:59 pm
===take down my comment ===
Did it refer to CTU as a communist front? Or was it some other goofy thing? I’m deleting a lot of comments these days from mouth-breathers in both camps.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 3:01 pm
===there is a big difference in a private school and the public school systems right?===
Yes I do. One of those differences is that public schools spend way more money per pupil than Catholic schools.
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 3:09 pm
Why Special Needs kids? You think a child with autism is going to keep a mask on for 7-8 hours a day? Additionally, children with Downs Syndrome are at much higher risk of the most serious covid complications due to the medical issues associated with their condition. When a child refuses to wear a mask, what happens? CPS is not saying. Special Needs students are a small population of the CPS Student body, and it seems that they were chosen because of their small population size to be guinea pigs to test out the rushed CPS reopening plans. Lightfoot keeps repeating equity as her reason for forcing in-person instruction, yet the vast majority of students of color have opted not to risk their children’s health by sending them back to school when a viable alternative, remote teaching, is available.
Comment by PublicServant Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 3:10 pm
yes the CTU is exactly that ur obviously a FACIST like the paper u write for why doesn`t the Sun Times allow comments on its articles
[Note from Rich Miller. The insanity I’m dealing with in comments lately is really quite something. I think I may even try to track this moron down. Either way, s/he is now banned for life and I’m gonna have to add this improper spelling of “fascist” to my list of banned words.]
Comment by Charlie Says Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 3:37 pm
@47th ward. That’s because private and suburban school populations generally come from high income households that do not need as many wrap around services as CPS students. Inequality is a major issue in Chicago, across the state, and nation.
Comment by Elliot Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 3:38 pm
Perhaps CTU should consult their friends at the White House, as the president said he wants children to return to school this spring.
CTU will find itself increasingly on the margins of this discussion.
But will they pay a political price? It’s high time these self-interested, obstructionist extremists were forced to.
Not holding my breath in this state, and this city, however.
Comment by JB13 Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 3:48 pm
Thanks for the lecture Elliott. What does any of that have to do with COVID? The virus is not spreading out of control in schools that have reopened. CTU’s reluctance to return to the classrooms is curious, don’t you think?
Comment by 47th Ward Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 3:51 pm
Ed Equity,
“17 Chicago area pediatricians and physicians” Wow, that’s an overwhelming number of medical professionals in the Chicago area /s. I wonder what the rest think.
Comment by Steve Polite Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 4:23 pm
This is the example of the need for school vouchers.
Comment by Groucho Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 5:03 pm
=== It’s high time these self-interested, obstructionist extremists were forced to. ===
To what? Wear a mask? Tell your obstructionist wingers to wear one. That’ll do a lot more to aid your fellow Illinoisians than forcing someone back to work when there is a viable alternative. Especially Special needs kids.
Comment by PublicServant Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 5:05 pm
===
Legislating in the midst of a global pandemic has presented unprecedented challenges, and we are diligently working together to overcome each one. Our goal is to conduct a Spring Session that is as normal as possible while ensuring the safety of legislators, staff, and the public.
===
So the legislators are doing remote lawmaking, but let’s force teachers and students back to the classroom. Riiiight…
Comment by PublicServant Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 5:31 pm
Is teaching more dangerous than working in a meat packing plant? It pays better.
Shut CPS down for 10 weeks. Resume then and go through the summer in person.
Comment by Last Bull Moose Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 6:46 pm
It’s time to go back to school. If the kids mean anything to the CTU it’s time to go back.
Comment by Really Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 8:54 pm
According to a recent SunTimes story, Sen. Cunningham was told by CTU leadership that they had a no strike clause in their contract as proof they would not immediately go on strike.
This was mentioned during debate of a bill CTU was pushing last week. Which just happened to be the first week CTU teachers and students were returning to schools for instruction. These were prek and special needs students.
Did CTU lie to the leadership in the Senate to get their 4.5 bill passed? If they wanted to take this strike action CTU could have done it when the first wave of students and CTU teachers returned to class last week. But they didn’t, why? They knew legislators would be nervous about voting on their bill if there was a strike going on in Chicago. CTU leaders told Senate leadership they couldn’t strike, there was a no strike clause, and so the Senate passed their bill, and now Chicago is looking at a strike.
Did CTU leadership lie to the Senate leadership to pass their bill?
Comment by Rank & File Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 10:06 pm
===Did CTU leadership lie to the Senate leadership to pass their bill? ===
Whether they did or didn’t, the bill changes nothing. It hasn’t even been sent to the governor yet.
Comment by Rich Miller Thursday, Jan 21, 21 @ 10:52 pm