Chicago teachers are refusing to return to classrooms after the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) said its members had voted to go against the reopening of in-person school.
The CTU announced over the weekend that the members had chosen to go against Chicago Public School’s (CPS) plans to reopen schools, The Epoch Times reported.
The original plan was for CPS’s students to return to in-person learning on Feb. 1 for kindergarten through 8th-grade students.
The Epoch Times estimated there are approximately 71,000 students that wish to return to in-person learning. There are approximately 10,000 teachers and staff that were ordered to return to prepare for reopening of schools.
“So what does this mean?” CTU said in response, The Epoch Times reported. “It means the overwhelming majority of you have chosen safety.”
The CTU also said in the statement that CPS was trying to scare the teachers.
“CPS did everything possible to divide us by instilling fear through threats of retaliation, but you still chose unity, solidarity and to collectively act as one,” the statement said, The Epoch Times reported.
CPS decided to push teachers and staff to return on Jan. 27 after the vote, in order to give the union and the school system more time to negotiate.
Janice Jackson of CPS said in an email that the school wanted students to return as scheduled.
“The scheduled return date for students in grades K-8 remains Monday, Feb. 1, and it is our goal to reach an agreement with CTU as soon as possible to ensure tens of thousands of additional students have the opportunity safely return to our classrooms,” Jackson said in the email, The Epoch Times reported.
Matt Lyons, the district’s chief talent officer, told teachers in a letter that if they did not return to in-person learning, their actions would be viewed as a strike.
“The decision by the union to remain out of schools and deny families access to in-person school is a decision to strike,” Lyons said, The Epoch Times reported. “This vote would cancel in-person learning for the tens of thousands of students who asked to return—and the thousands of pre-K and cluster students who are already learning safely in classrooms. Our collective bargaining agreement includes a no-strike clause, and the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board has ruled a strike of this nature would be illegal.”
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