With schools across Illinois now mask-optional, the Chicago Teachers Union says there will be “consequences” if CPS lifts the mandate without negotiations.
The union negotiated the mask requirement with the district in January after several days of canceled classes, and the union is urging Mayor Lightfoot to honor the agreement and keep it in place. The mandate runs through August.
Earlier this week, CPS CEO Pedro Martinez said it would be lifted in the near future.
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"This is the first time that I've seen where a nation the state and the city are being aligned and we're seeing cases at record lows," Martinez said. "We're seeing people feeling safer. So even though we'll continue to strongly encourage masking, we are moving in this direction to go optional."
CTU President Jesse Sharkey wrote in a letter to Lightfoot, "If CPS moves toward making masks optional without bargaining to do so safely, this refusal to honor our agreement will have consequences."
This as a hearing is scheduled next week in a lawsuit challenging the agreement.
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