CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Leaders of the Chicago Teachers Union moved Monday to send the latest schools reopening plan proposed by CPS to its full membership for a vote.
On Monday, 85 percent of the Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates voted in favor of the tentative agreement for schools to reopen.
Now, the 25,000 members of the CTU will vote Tuesday by secret electronic ballot whether to accept the plan ironed out over the weekend between the union and the district. The ballots are due by 11:59 p.m. Tuesday. Delegates made no recommendation to members about the motion.
Meanwhile, 90 percent of the House of Delegates issued a "no-confidence" vote for Mayor Lightfoot and the Chicago Public Schools leadership. The union said that vote reflected "disgust that it has taken almost a year of effort just to extract the most basic enforceable safety guarantees from a school district with a dismal record of broken promises."
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Under the plan, at least 2,000 vaccine doses will be offered to preschool and special education cluster program staff this week.
If the union members agree to the deal, several thousand preschool and special education cluster students will return for in-person learning Thursday. About 60,000 other elementary school students will be phased in for in-person instruction by March 8; with kindergarten through 5th grade staff returning Feb. 22 followed by their students March 1; and 6th to 8th grade staff returning March 1, and their students returning March 8.
High school students are also not currently scheduled to return in person.
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If the deal is approved by CTU members, the city will begin vaccinating 1,500 CPS workers each week at sites specifically for CPS employees later this month. Priority will be given to employees returning to work sooner, as well as those who are at higher risk due to age or demographics.
Additionally, the city is offering 1,000 vaccines this week to staff who asked to continue working from home, because they live with a medically vulnerable household member. Those workers will be required to return two weeks after their first dose.
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In the event CTU members reject the plan, the threat of a strike looms.
CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates told members in a meeting Sunday that a potential strike “wouldn’t be less than 15 days,” which is how long the 2019 teachers strike stretched on.
In the case of a strike, CTU President Jesse Sharkey noted that the union could face “legal repercussions.”
“If the strike was declared illegal, people could not make up the pay and the board could levy fines against both individual teachers and the union,” he said Sunday.