While a few school buildings may be open to students, Chicago Public Schools has once again canceled classes as negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union continue.
Stacy Davis Gates
Chicago Public Schools students will stay at home for a second consecutive day Thursday, as the district has once again canceled classes after the Chicago Teachers Union voted to begin working remotely.
“I am so pissed off that we have to continuously fight for the basic necessities, the basic mitigations … this makes no sense,” CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates said Monday.
The former San Antonio Independent School District superintendent now finds himself leading a district that is struggling to execute contact tracing and COVID-19 testing as students resume in-person learning.
State education officials say students who don’t have medical exemptions must be taught in school this year. But in Chicago, there’s still a standoff between the mayor’s office and the teachers union over what in-person learning should look like during a pandemic.
For the first time in 17 months, Chicago Public Schools students returned to the classroom for full-time, in-person learning Monday. At some schools, the mayor was there to welcome them back.
The school district on Tuesday released its budget proposal for the 2022 fiscal year, which includes $672 million for priority facility investments throughout the city and more than $1 billion in federal funding for student supports.
Defying Mayor Lori Lightfoot, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed a bill Friday restoring the ability of the Chicago Teachers Union to bargain with the city over a wide range of issues, including class size, layoffs and the duration of the school year.
Just after midnight Wednesday, the Chicago Teachers Union said 13,681 of its members voted to approve the tentative agreement with Chicago Public Schools, meaning the school reopening plan is now finalized and the city will avoid its second teachers strike in 15 months.
Chicago teachers who did not show up for in-person work Monday will not be locked out of their Google education suites in a “gesture of good faith” from city leaders hoping to reach a deal over a safe school reopening plan and avoid a potential strike.
Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Stacy Davis Gates said as Illinois moves into Phase 1B of vaccinations, a category that includes teachers, city leadership should prioritize staff at Chicago Public Schools.
For the first time in 10 months, some Chicago Public Schools students are set to return to their school buildings Monday. What parents can expect — and what critics of the plan have to say.
CPS CEO Janice Jackson said 49.7% of teachers returned Monday, one week before in-person learning is set to resume for some 17,000 students. Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Stacy Davis Gates weighs in on “Chicago Tonight.”
Community members, parents and officials are voicing their concerns over a proposal to close three elementary schools with dwindling enrollment and replace them with a new, state-of-the-art facility.
“We all want to return to our students. We don’t want to die doing our jobs, and we don’t want to be vectors for spreading illness or death to our students and their families,” CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates said.
School’s back in session next week – albeit virtually. Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Stacy Davis-Gates shares her thoughts.
