CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Nearly 6,000 pre-school and special education teachers in the Chicago Public School system were to report to their schools for work Monday morning as CPS prepares to offer in-person learning. But, there's been pushback from the Chicago Teachers Union, which contends schools are not yet COVID-safe enough.
It's unclear yet how many teachers who were supposed to show up at school buildings Monday actually did.
At an online news conference Monday morning, special education cluster teacher Linda Perales indicated she would work remotely rather than show up Monday.
"I am making this decision, not only for myself, but for the safety of my students and their families," she said.
Teacher Quentin Washington said he fears for his life going back into a school building.
"I’m in the 10th Ward where the coronavirus has been raging," he said.
Washington teaches music at Sadlowski Elementary School on the Southeast Side and said parents, teachers and students "are in survirval mode." He also points out that, "to recklessly cast caution to the wind just for the sake of having people in school for a handful of students while the vast majority of the students that really need help the most suffer the consequences, remote learning is going to suffer."
Pre-school teacher Kirstin Roberts said she will not go into Brentano School for the foreseeable future because she’s afraid for her family’s health and the health of her student’s families.
"I want to keep my job. I don’t want to risk my job. I love my job, but I am willing to risk that in order to stay alive," she said.
Roberts further adds, "We want to keep our jobs. We're not kamikaze pilots. We want to keep our jobs and we want to stay safe."
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Lori Torres teaches in Logan Square and has three children who attend CPS schools. She says that, "when we consider Latino families who have been hit very hard by COVID-19, we need to consider the fact that we live in multi-generational homes and bringing this virus home can have greater impact."
Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey said the school system has threatened disciplinary action against teachers who do not show up in person when they're scheduled to. For those called in to work in-person Monday - pre-school and special education cluster teachers - Sharkey said it "would be a disaster" if CPS started firing those people who are serving some of the most vulnerable people in Chicago.
Teachers also said the vast majority of students who continue to opt for remote learning would suffer if teachers have to teach to two groups at the same time: those physically in front of them and those students who are learning remotely.
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CPS officials insist it is safe to return for in-person learning. CPS points, in a letter, how Catholic schools in the Chicago area have been doing in-person learning safely since the fall and contends CPS has taken action to make sure it's safe for public school students to return, as well.
CPS said teachers may apply for waivers from having to return in-person. The school system said that, of the teachers who have applied for a waiver from returning in-person, more than 850 have been granted an accommodation or medical leave while about 300 applications are pending.
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Meanwhile, 33 Chicago aldermen have signed a letter to Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago Schools CEO Janice Jackson in opposition to a return to in-person learning right now.