Parents Stressed As They Find Themselves In Limbo Amid CPS, CTU Negotiations Over In-Person Learning
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Chicago Public Schools students will be in remote learning again on Tuesday and Wednesday – as CPS and Mayor Lori Lightfoot have called for a "48-hour cooling-off period" in negotiations over in-person learning and coronavirus safety.
That means there is no threat of a teachers' strike for at least the next couple of days, and the Chicago Teachers Union said bargaining would be continuing Tuesday. Still, as CBS 2's Marie Saavedra reported, some parents are not enjoying being in limbo every night.
Parents find themselves stressed, and the reasons why run the gamut. Pick any CPS parent, and they'll have their own concerns about what CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union will do next that are as individual as their own children.
Kate Jablonski is a mom of twins who lives and dies by a schedule. But that's out the window.
"We did not learn until 5 p.m. last night what today was going to look like," Jablonski said.
Now, she is waiting for the fate of her 5-year-old's future with Chicago Public Schools. They've spent all of kindergarten at home with their dad's help, but on Monday, they played hooky.
The Jablonskis kept their kids off remote learning as part of a sick-out, demanding parents voices be heard as the CTU and CPS keep bargaining.
"You're not reaching a consensus. Why don't we push the reopening for a week just so we know what's going on; so we can have some stability; so we can talk to our kids; so we can be prepared for it?" Jablonski said.
Jablonski feels both sides are rushing plans with little parent input. And she is frustrated.
"The plan falls short for all families," she said.
So is Antoinette Peterson.
"I still just feel very anxious," Peterson said.
She hopes that when her daughter Madison returns to her freshman year at Walter H. Dyett High School for the Arts, it's in-person. What she is asking for is options that some parents desperately need.
"You have kids who are staying at home not logging on, and it's not to say that parents are not trying," Peterson said.
Data from CPS shows that struggle. In the first quarter, the biggest drop in attendance came from African-American students, down 5 percent from last year.
"Some parents do need that in-person option," Peterson said.
But what is most wearing on both families is that they just have to sit and wait to see if CPS and the CTU will do what parents think is best for their children - and work out what to do next if they don't.
For the Peterson family, looking at what's next is a real thing. They moved Madison from Catholic school to CPS for high school. Now the possibility of a strike has her mom thinking about sending her back to parochial school.
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