(Bloomberg) — Chicago schools have canceled instruction for Wednesday after the teachers’ union voted to shift to remote learning, escalating a clash with city officials.
The result of an electronic citywide ballot showed 73% of the members of the Chicago Teachers Union were in favor of the action, according to its posts on Twitter. Mayor Lori Lightfoot and school officials wanted to keep the U.S.’s third-largest district open and in-person amid nationwide staffing shortages as Covid-19 cases surge. City officials have called the union’s step illegal and responded by calling off classes altogether for a day. The district is planning to dock the pay of union members who don’t report to work Wednesday.
The CTU is demanding additional mitigation like more testing to prevent the spread of the disease given the omicron variant has pushed case numbers to a record. The district has said it is taking additional measures to keep students and staff safe.
The union said remote teaching will end when the current “surge in cases substantially subsides” or when the mayor signs an agreement “establishing conditions for return that are voted on and approved” by the union’s house of delegates.
“The worst thing that we can do is shut the entire system down,” Lightfoot said during an unrelated press conference on Tuesday, adding that the “best place, the safest place for our children to be, is in a classroom everyday.”
Like New York Mayor Eric Adams, Lightfoot has pushed to keep the city’s schools open. School closings are accelerating in other parts of the U.S. Large districts around Atlanta, Detroit and Prince George’s County in Maryland are adopting remote instruction. At least 3,229 schools closed in the first week of January, according to Burbio, which tracks closings.
The district plans to “double down” on protection strategies including vaccination, testing, contact tracing, universal masking, social distancing, hand hygiene, cleaning and air quality. It also will switch classrooms or schools to remote if needed to prevent spread. The school district’s mass testing plan, however, has hit some snags with most of its at-home tests unable to provide valid results.
“There is no basis in the data, the science or common sense for us to shut an entire system down when we can surgically do this at a school-level where needed,” Lightfoot said during a press conference with school and health officials before the union’s vote.
‘Work Stoppage’
The district called the union’s action a “work stoppage” and said union members who don’t report to work on Wednesday won’t be paid. School officials will provide next steps to parents on Wednesday.
“Despite six months of active, good-faith discussions with the CTU, despite the fact that more than 90% of our staff is vaccinated, despite proven and implemented Covid-19 safety measures, and despite little evidence of in-school transmission, our teachers are not willing to report to work,” the district said in an emailed statement. “We are deeply concerned about this decision but even more concerned about its impact on the health, safety, and well-being of our students and families.”
The fight marks the latest in a series of conflicts between the union and Chicago Public Schools and the mayor. In 2019, the union held its longest strike since 1987 to demand higher pay as well as more nurses and social workers in schools. After the winter break in early 2021, the union’s actions led to a delayed and phased-in return to school.
“What we need is what we are going to fight for,” Stacy Davis Gates, the union’s vice president, said during a press conference outside a school on Monday. She said Lightfoot and the district need to do more. “We are going to fight for the mitigations.”
(Updates with additional comments starting in eighth paragraph.)
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