”We know that many high school students and families are eager to learn more about their return to in-person instruction, and it is our goal to provide them with a safe in-person option this school year,” Jackson said. One student, Nathan Davis Elementary School eighth grader Dayana Martinez, offered suggestions to improve student well-being, including full “mental health” days, healing circles and virtual spaces for teachers and families. “Right, but she wants the school buildings open,” Rousemary Vega said after a male staffer told her she couldn’t go further. Libby Emmons Brooklyn, NY. That plan — to split the return of elementary students into two phases, starting Monday and March 8, respectively — was agreed upon by CPS and CTU earlier this month following a protracted fight over reopening schools that led to several delays and brought the district to a brink of a second teachers strike in less than a year and a half. Torres said she believes there should be vaccinations for teachers, and guarantees that school ventilation systems are good enough, especially on older campuses. Still, Rosario Anacleto, a parent in Chicago, said her family is ready for schools to open. ”The process that we just went through I felt in many ways was inhumane for our members, our CPS families, our administrators, the public, as well as people who have a seat at the table,” Sharkey said. Still, the couple has concerns about sending their children back to school. Many parents know that much of the load usually alleviated by in-person school is also falling on them. “So what kind of hypocrisy is that? "We do get it, that this social aspect is vitally important. Local School Councils Pushing Chicago Public Schools To Halt Reopening Efforts: ‘We Reject This Plan’ At least three local school councils have passed resolutions asking CPS to halt its school reopening plans, saying it's not safe for students, teachers and families at this stage of the pandemic. CHICAGO — As the Chicago Teachers Union and the school district continued its showdown over classroom reopening plans and health and safety … Teachers have been early in line to get shots in places like California, but for some teachers' unions that is still not enough. Addressing the board Wednesday, CTU President Jesse Sharkey said the vitriol on display during negotiations over the return of preschool and elementary students should be left behind as the union and district try to work out the reopening of high schools. The experts noted that the kind of spread seen in crowded offices and long-term care facilities has not been reported in schools. 0. Chicago Public Schools (CPS) CEO Dr. Janice Jackson said the district has plans to mitigate the spread of any coronavirus outbreaks in schools. That includes 5,000 prekindergarten and special education cluster students already back, 37,000 kindergarten to fifth grade students due back on Monday, and 18,000 sixth to eighth graders who opted to return the following week. The tentative deal allows for CTU members who serve as primary caregivers for family members at increased risk for severe illness due to COVID-19 to receive permission to teach remotely, if documentation can be provided. The Chicago teachers union tweeted out that they believe parents' desire to get students back to school is a product of racism and sexism. Also Wednesday, the board adopted a preliminary new policy requiring employees to show proof that they’ve received a coronavirus vaccine. “Simply put, when the majority of students who chose to return are economically disadvantaged or students of color, it becomes very clear why reopening schools is a matter of equity,” McDade said. Chicago public schools scrapped a plan to have more teachers return to classrooms this week after their union threatened to strike over unsatisfactory COVID-19 safeguards. “However, our education is not being prioritized by CPS and Lori Lightfoot.”. Chicago school nurses also sided with teachers, arguing that the CPS reopening plan was unfeasible ( WGN, 1/14/21 ), and an arbitrator ruled schools were unsafe for some workers last fall ( Chicago Sun-Times, 10/2/20 ). We charted out who is eligible and who is not in as much detail as we could find. December 7, 2020 4:11 PM 4 mins reading. And that is adding an extra layer … And the union has a powerful weapon at its disposal: The ability to strike. The first group of in-person students will return to classrooms on Thursday. It may not be true for everyone. Chicago Teachers Union delegates have agreed to ask all 25,000 members to vote on a tentative reopening deal with Chicago Public Schools. Chicago Public Schools CEO Janice Jackson told the school board Wednesday the district plans to restart in-person learning for high school students this spring. “We need to do better.”. Up to 65,000 preschool through eighth grade students and children with moderate to complex disabilities are due to return when schools reopen, most of them twice a week. McDade highlighted that two-thirds of the students opting for a return are Black and Latino, and the same percentage are economically disadvantaged. “You simply don’t.”. And we understand that, but the reality is it's too soon. The Chicago battle comes as schools worldwide struggle with a stop-and-start reopening. The Chicago Teachers Union's 25,000 members are voting Tuesday on a reopening deal that Chicago Public Schools laid out to get students back into the classroom. The group was denied entry past the lobby of City Hall — which one education advocate quickly condemned as a double standard. It's a little profane. "And just knowing that my kids would have to sit there all this time with a mask on.". Officials had said last month that 67,000 pre-K through eighth grade and cluster students were due to return for in-person classes, in most cases part time. New standards for Illinois teachers in training are latest flashpoint in culture wars. During the news conference, parents and students alike expressed disappointment with feeling ignored by the district. "Currently, Chicago's schools lack access to adequate testing and tracing programs, proper PPE, necessary room ventilation and sanitization, and priority vaccination of educators and school support staff.". Students line up outside a Chicago elementary school in January. And while in-school transmission has occurred, they said there is little evidence that it contributed meaningfully to increased community transmission. "I believe I've implemented that into their brains enough and, with the school's help in watching and everything that is pretty much now our new normal, that they're going to do OK.". Chicago (CNN)Lori Torres knows the dangers of coronavirus are real. 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"When we're on the computer I go to talk to them and I get headaches sometimes and my eyes start to hurt. It's safer at home. Jackson told the Board of Education Wednesday the district plans to meet with the Chicago Teachers Union this week to discuss a path forward, lauding the return to classrooms as a way to give “highest-needs” students a better education. Chicago schools reopening hits snag as union fight escalates. If it comes to it, I am prepared to strike.". A sign in a Chicago school hallway reminding … After delivering their demands to the mayor, the group marched to CPS headquarters to host a “teach-in” at parent-run tables outside as Wednesday’s Board of Education meeting was due to commence. Torres remains frustrated at the school district's insistence that teachers return. "I think it's OK that, at a time like this, that I take a step back and consider me at this point.". Here’s the science. The State of Illinois has announced that Chicago can move to Phase 4 without any mitigation measures, effective January 31, 2021. Chicago’s young people cannot afford a … Nearly 1.6 million Illinois users will ‘expeditiously’ get at least $345. The union’s position isn’t that schools can never open, but that safety standards should be met. Deaths of teachers from coronavirus, such as, This week, newly published findings by CDC researchers showed that. Ahead of the meeting, some CPS parents spoke out against the district’s reopening plan Wednesday morning in front of City Hall and attempted to present a bundle of demands to Mayor Lori Lightfoot. "I'm comfortable being at home. During tense negotiations over reopening Chicago’s schools, the district and its teachers union accused each other of refusing to budge from inflexible positions. By Sophia Tareen Associated Press, Updated February 1, 2021, 5:28 p.m. Teachers Adrienne Thomas, left, and … In Jackson’s board meeting remarks, she was asked to address complaints about remote learning. New York City reopened schools to young students last month after a two-week shutdown. Members of the parent advocacy group Raise Your Hand, which started an online petition outlining what it calls its “TLC demands” — short for trust, learning and care — said they should be brought to the table as CPS officials proceed with the next phase of their reopening plan. We’re betting, though, that both sides learned lessons from the unnecessarily acrimonious negotiations over reopening elementary schools. Chicago Teachers Union claims reopening schools is racist, sexist, and misogynist. "I need to worry about not just what my students are facing, but also what my family and myself are facing," she told CNN. Chicago Public Schools released a tentative coronavirus reopening plan Friday that would have most children physically in the classroom just two days a week. Her son, third-grader Jose Santiago, would agree. Jackson and Lightfoot have repeatedly quoted studies showing reopening schools is generally safe. CHICAGO — A plan to reopen Chicago schools remained in doubt Monday as last-minute negotiations over COVID-19 safety measures with the teachers’ union stalled, amplifying the possibility of a strike or lockout if teachers and staff in K-8 do not show up for work. More than 300 people have signed the petition as of early Wednesday. "Parents have overwhelmingly rejected in-person learning under the current conditions," CTU President Jesse Sharkey, "There are many options that we've proposed to staff classrooms where children are returning without putting every single member of the school community at increased risk — including thousands of educators with families at heightened risk from COVID.". There are arguments going on in Fairfax County, Virginia, where CNN affiliate WJLA reports, In states like Georgia, teachers are not backed by unions and some districts have required them to be back for in-person learning. Another 200,000 kids will remain in remote learning full-time. Fourteen members of her extended family tested positive after they grieved together for the loss of her grandmother last November. Teachers unions push debate over reopening schools to new point of reckoning 04:24 (CNN) Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot says city officials have … Join the ranks of independent, free thinkers by supporting us today for as little as $1. But overall, the total number of students planning to return to in-person classrooms one again declined, to about 60,000, CPS Chief Education Officer LaTanya McDade said during the board presentation. Jackson said the vast majority of students whose grades are falling and being impacted dramatically by Covid-19 are Black and Latino students. "If people don't see that as an equity issue, I really don't know what else to say," Jackson said. Steven Keys, a father of a 2nd grader and 7th grader, put it simply: "Every day, it's like a different test.". "My first reaction was simply 'how inhumane,'" she said. Some teachers opposed to being ordered back to class in the pandemic have the power of the union behind them. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that teachers get vaccinations -- along with firefighters, grocery store clerks and other essential workers -- ahead of the general population. So Torres feels safer at home -- and that's where she plans to keep herself and her three children. As a two-parent household, they know they have options. Torres has a powerful ally in her corner: the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). Chicago school nurses also sided with teachers, arguing that the CPS reopening plan was unfeasible (WGN, 1/14/21), and an arbitrator ruled schools were unsafe for some workers last fall (Chicago Sun-Times, 10/2/20). Facebook privacy settlement gets final approval. Column: Marjorie Taylor Greene wants us to ‘trust the science’ on transgender rights. "I'm that parent that's constantly like 'Put your mask over your nose. Chicago Teachers Union members have voted two-to-one in favor of a reopening deal with Chicago Public Schools, signaling that in-person classes … Sponsoring the demands were the CTU and nine community groups, the news release said. “These are a list of demands that have been going on well before COVID-19, but this crisis has definitely opened all of the equity gaps,” Natasha Erskine, an organizer with Raise Your Hand, said during the news conference. He said the previous talks were a “textbook description” of both sides coming to the table with “irreconcilable beliefs,” and that what he described as stubbornness from city officials did not help. Finally, after months of a stalemate that threatened to become a second teachers’ strike in two years, the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools have that agreement. Nonetheless, the city employee promised that Lightfoot would see the demands. Chicago schools reopening uncertain as union talks stall. The parents group that rallied Wednesday morning is calling for a renewed urgency in improving remote learning because most students will still be receiving lessons online, at least part time. ", Teachers fight return to classrooms without proper safety measures, The reckoning over the nation's schools and Covid is coming, Where the top US school districts stand with virtual vs. in-person learning, two educators who died within hours of each other, with the right precautions, schools can reopen safely. More than 70,000 K-8th grade students -- about 37% of eligible students -- have indicated to the school district they intend to return on February 1. As a Spanish teacher at James Monroe Elementary School in Chicago, she has hundreds of other children also relying on her. The CTU has told its members to be prepared to go on strike if the school district retaliates for teachers choosing to continue teaching online -- yet neither the retaliation nor strike have happened. The school district reopened for a few thousand prekindergarten and special education students at the start of 2021 but delayed its second round of reopening due to union negotiations. 0. Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a recent news conference that she's "deeply disappointed" that 10 months into the pandemic, with plans made and work done, there is still no agreement between CPS and CTU -- especially as city officials have pointed to the educational divide as more than just a Covid mitigation issue. Chicago Families Debate School Reopening The ugly fight between the city and its teachers’ union has frustrated parents, even those who want to keep their children home. That means fewer than 30% of eligible CPS students have indicated they want to return to classrooms. Chicago Public Schools announced they would have all-remote learning earlier in August. Chinella Miller, a CPS parent, said city officials have a long way to go to earn back her trust. She said the district has invested more than $75 million in e-learning since last year and that previous comments she’s made have been “taken out of context.” As for the calls to reduce instructional time due to children staring at screens all day, Jackson said the district “just won’t agree to that” because she believes now is not the time to shorten the school day, whether remote or in person. That's one of the Chicago Teachers Union's arguments: if many parents are choosing not to send their children back, why should teachers be forced into classrooms? 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New Orleans announced a return to “distance learning” this week because of rising COVID-19 cases. IMPORTANT CHICAGO REOPENING NOTICE. Chicago Public Schools reopened for some in-person learning with COVID-19 safety measures in place Monday. CHICAGO — District leaders said they are optimistic that more families will opt for in-person instruction as reopening progresses. A Chicago Public Schools parents group gathers in front of CPS headquarters Wednesday to push for improvements to both remote and in-person learning. Updated 0032 GMT (0832 HKT) January 28, 2021. Do not touch this, do not touch that,'" she told CNN. “The characterization that we haven’t prioritized remote learning is false,” Jackson said. The Keys family: Jezeniah Keys (7th grade), Steven Keys, Reella Garcia, Mariah Keys (2nd grade) pictured left to right. You can’t have a city building closed and you want the city schools open.”. It wants a focus on mental health and social-emotional needs, as well as improved technology and a monthly stipend of as much as $100 for families who are spending more on internet service because the district-provided hot spots can be unreliable. By Chalkbeat Staff Updated Feb 10, 2021, 9:46am CST Mayor Lori Lightfoot on the first day of the school year in September 2020. His wife Reella Garcia listed off the multiple roles she now has to fulfill for her children in virtual learning -- teacher, mom, lunch cook and more. A Chicago Public Schools parents group gathers in front of CPS headquarters Wednesday to push for improvements to both remote and in-person learning. Parents will have another chance to opt for in-person learning ahead of the fourth quarter, which begins on April 15, when Jackson said she hopes to see more students returning to classrooms. "We're not fully comfortable with it -- hearing that it's possibly a new strand of Covid that's supposedly could hit us," Garcia said. At the time, Chicago Public Schools said it hoped to reopen … Chicago Public Schools expects about 60,700 students in the elementary grades and in intensive special education programs to learn in school buildings by mid-March — slightly fewer than 30 percent of the eligible students. Lori Torres, a Spanish teacher at James Monroe Elementary School, says it's too soon for teachers and students to return to the classroom in person. "We want to make sure that we're not just, you know, expediting our children and putting them in a situation where we just want them out the house," Keys said. “CPS failed our students before the pandemic, so there’s no reason for us to believe you when you say that you care about our children,” Miller said. But in the pandemic, she's made her choice to put family first.
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