CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Another new twist in the COVID situation in Chicago Public Schools: the Chicago Teachers Union said it is taking COVID testing into its own hands.
Standing in the rain outside of Marvin Camras Children's Engineering Elementary School at Mango and Wellington in the Belmont-Cragin neighborhood on the Northwest Side, teacher Nidia Carranza said Chicago Public Schools is dropping the ball when it comes to testing students, who are largely unvaccinated.
"Our school was promised eight weeks of testing, so far we have receive two. That 25 percent is the failing rate," she said.
CTU President Jesse Sharkey said the district has tested a small number of students. He added that the testing program is far behind other large cities.
"We were promised this summer 100 percent testing, we've seen nothing like it," he said. "We're only testing half of the people who are signed up. That's nowhere near sufficient. In places like Los Angeles everyone is being tested every week."
Sharkey said the district needs to set up vaccination hubs in schools in order to vaccinate younger children as soon as the federal government provides the green light.
Meanwhile, the union is partnering with a local health clinic to provide vaccination and COVID testing outside of Camras Elementary, but Sharkey said that shouldn't be their job.
"This is the work that needs to be going on inside the school. This is the work that needs to be done with the office of the school, the administration of the school that working with parents to come set up inside our buildings to allow people to get tested and vaccinated inside," he said.
Monday's pop up clinic was rained out.
"Today we got rained out. We'll be back tomorrow. But what we hope is that tomorrow, or the day after that, or very soon that the City of Chicago puts its full weight and resources behind a vaccination program," Sharkey said.
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