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Chicago schoolchildren are expected to return to classrooms later this week, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Sunday after the Chicago Teachers Union and Chicago Public Schools reached a “tentative agreement.”
“We are here to share the very good news that our children will be resuming learning in person this week,” Lightfoot said at a press conference. “The past 11 months have been a whirlwind for our entire city, pushing us to countless limits. We’ve lost jobs, we’ve lost loved ones… We’ve all been on an uninterrupted emotional roller coaster that we’ve tried individually and collectively to navigate. “
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Under the tentative agreement, the start of face-to-face classes, phased by level, was postponed from the district’s original plans. Classes for some students would start later in the week.
But the deal still hinges on broader union endorsement, and it’s still unclear when or if a vote will take place for its roughly 25,000 members, the Chicago Tribune reported.
“We don’t have an agreement with Chicago public schools yet,” the Chicago Teachers Union tweeted Sunday, as the press conference was still underway. “The mayor and his team made an offer to our members late last night that deserves further consideration. We will continue our democratic baseline review process throughout the day before a deal is reached.”
The union and the district have been battling for months over a plan to gradually reopen the district of about 340,000 students, as negotiations have failed in recent days. Main issues included widespread immunizations for teachers, measures to assess school infections, and accommodations for teachers who have someone in their household who is more susceptible to the coronavirus.
“This agreement was meant to make sure that everyone in our school communities is just not safe, but also to feel safe,” Lightfoot said.
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CPS officials said opening schools was safe and distance learning did not work for all students, including many black and Latino students who make up the majority of the district. Union officials had argued that the district’s plan, which included air filters in classrooms and voluntary COVID-19 tests for teachers, did not go far enough
The pre-kindergarten and special education students briefly returned last month, but came to a halt amid a growing struggle with the union, which voted to continue distance education and reject the plans of the district. Kindergarten to Grade 8 teachers and students were expected to return on February 1 for the first time since they were completely removed last March. The district had offered elementary and secondary students two days of in-person instruction. No return date has been set for high school students.
The union had said that if the district locked out teachers, as it has done before, teachers would picket. Such a decision would have cut virtual learning for all students. The union last went on strike in 2019.
About 77,000 students in Kindergarten to Grade 8 expressed interest in returning to class in a December survey. While Kindergarten students and some special education students received face-to-face instruction five days a week, Kindergarten through 8 students received two days a week of in-person instruction with classes remotely on other days. Attendance was below expectations.
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About 6,500 of the nearly 17,000 eligible preschool and special education students said they would like to return, but only about 3,200, or 19% of those eligible, participated after the January reopening, the CPS said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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