CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago Public Schools is rolling out a hybrid in-person learning model starting next month.
While CPS has made progress on some of its safety measures, Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey said it’s missing clear public health criteria.
“The positivity rates are very high. And we shouldn’t basically give a date regardless of the criteria, I think it needs to be connected to a clear standard,” Sharkey told WBBM.
The CTU filed an injunction with the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Board, demanding that Mayor Lori Lightfoot meets with them before reopening.
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“What we’re hoping to do is get leverage to make CPS bargain with good faith and up to right now, they have been telling us they’re not willing to bargain the question of reopening,” Sharkey said.
The CPS plan calls for pre-K and students enrolled in special education intensive and moderate cluster classrooms who cannot be served well enough under any form of remote learning to return on Jan. 11. Kindergarten through 8th graders will return Feb. 1. High school students who learn in general education settings will continue learning at home, and CPS will continue to evaluate options for a return to in-person learning for those students next year, according to CPS’s website.
In an effort to prep for the reopening plan, Lightfoot said teachers will be able to have access to any available coronavirus vaccines but not before other essential workers.