The system’s 340,000 students are set to go back to school on Wednesday after the Chicago Teachers Union’s House of Delegates voted Monday night to end a week-long walkout over COVID-19 fears. The walkout began with a union vote to reinstate virtual instruction and a push for more stringent security protocols, including widespread testing, as Omicron variants spread.
While most US public school districts have reopened their campuses for the new year, education systems in some major cities have opted for online learning or back-to-class plans have been delayed due to staffing shortages, In some cases due to covid diseases. The United States on Monday reported 1.35 million new coronavirus infections, the highest daily total for any country in the world, according to a Reuters tally, as the spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant showed no signs of slowing.
The seven-day average of cases in Chicago showed signs of decline last week, down 8% from the week that saw 5,200 cases. While the third-largest US city has seen a surge in cases, Mayor Lori Lightfoot has pushed for schools to stay open.
“Re-switching completely to distance learning without public health reasons creates the social, emotional and economic upheaval many of our families are facing,” he told a news conference.
The dispute was tense. Lightfoot and the district had declared the walkout illegal and said that teachers’ salaries would be docked. The union had accused the mayor and school officials of “locking out” the freezing of teachers’ online instruction platform.
The Chicago Tribune reported that the agreement calls for increased testing and contact tracing in schools, metrics for letting the district go remotely and includes a commitment to secure additional KN95 masks for staff and students.
During a news conference on Monday, Chicago Teachers Association president Jesse Sharkey said the deal wasn’t ideal, but “it includes some important things that are going to help protect us and our schools.”
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