As Reopening Impasse Drags On, And Talks With CTU Continue, CPS Cancels In-Person Classes Thursday
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It's another day of remote learning for all Chicago Public Schools students. The district told parents Wednesday night not to send their kids to school on Thursday, after the Chicago Teachers Union told teachers and staff to continue working remotely.
It's happening as CPS and CTU continue to negotiate a safe return to the classroom.
It's now day two of all CPS students having to stay home for remote learning. Pre-k and some special education cluster students had been able to return to in-person classes for the past few weeks, but the district told them to stay home on Wednesday, after CTU rank-and-file teachers voted to defy an order from CPS to return to in-person instruction.
While students were learning from home on Wednesday, CPS and CTU continued talks on a reopening agreement. Parents waited all day for answers, but the decision to continue remote learning for a second day in a row didn't come down until after 7 p.m.
CPS posted a tweet saying its decision is because CTU leadership directed teachers and staff to stay home on Thursday, which means the district won't be able to guarantee enough staffing for in-person learning.
The directive from the CTU includes pre-k and cluster teachers who had returned to classrooms earlier this month, and kindergarten through 8th grade teachers who were supposed to return to school buildings this week to prepare for their students' scheduled return on Monday.
The union has insisted its decision is about safety, adding teachers need to at least have access to a COVID-19 vaccine before returning to the classroom, but it's a decision that's also affecting thousands of CPS parents.
"That's not right to me. It's like this constant barking in-between, and we're in the middle," said CPS parent Bridgett White.
CBS 2 asked Mayor Lori Lightfoot if teachers who don't show up to school this week would be locked out of their Google classrooms.
"I don't think we should be talking about lockouts. What we should be talking about is how do we get a deal done so that we can move forward," she said.
Lightfoot said CPS still plans to bring K-8 students back to classrooms on Monday, even though the district and CTU have yet to reach a deal on reopening.
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