Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union are “at the finish line” of a high school reopening agreement with hopes to reach a deal Thursday, union leaders said.
Thousands of high school teachers are still working remotely, in defiance of district orders to return to classrooms this week. Thursday was the second day of the CTU’s collective action, which is meant to pressure CPS into putting the final touches on a settlement.
Mueze Bawany, an English and history teacher at Roberto Clemente Community Academy and member of the union’s high school bargaining committee, said the two sides are “close on all” issues.
“The fact is, we’re at the finish line,” Bawany told reporters at a Thursday morning news conference outside Benito Juarez Community Academy, where educators set up to teach their online students outside the building instead of reporting to work inside.
“There’s definitely progress being made. It’s a whole different world when both sides are listening to each other, [and] clearly the district is starting to understand some of the perspectives and points we’re bringing about.”
Up to 26,000 high school students have said they’re interested in returning to classrooms next week when those buildings open for the first time during the pandemic. About 4,300 teachers and hundreds more support staff are also due back — and about 85% of them showed up as directed Monday and Tuesday before the union’s action started Wednesday.
The last details to be sorted out include a commitment by city officials to create a vaccination program for high school students aged 16 and older and their families, and to grant work-from-home accommodations and unpaid leaves of absence for teachers who have significant child care challenges or household members with medical vulnerabilities.
CPS has appeared willing to allow teachers to work remotely on days when they have no in-person students and has looked open to partnering with the CTU on that community vaccination plan, said Jackson Potter, a teacher at Back of The Yards College Prep and member of the union’s executive board.
“We do not want a Michigan meltdown in Illinois,” Potter said, referencing a huge surge of COVID-19 infections in the fellow Midwestern state and the recent rise in cases among young people in Chicago. “We are pandemic fatigued, too. But we are not willing to sacrifice the lives of our students or families because we’re tired and want to get back to normal.
“We’re prepared to take this day and hope that both sides will come to an agreement. That’s our hope today — we think that is increasingly possible. … What we’re asking right now is we get these safety protocols in place, we get back to school tomorrow in the high schools.”
Once CTU officials believe they have agreeable terms in bargaining, they’ll call a House of Delegates meeting — possibly as soon as Thursday evening — so the 600-member governing body can discuss the potential deal and pass it on to a full membership vote to approve an agreement.
:format(webp):no_upscale()/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_asset/file/22446179/CTU_041621_08.jpg "CPS, CTU ‘at the finish line’ in high school reopening
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