Chicago Issues Teachers An Ultimatum: Report To Work Monday Or There Will Be Consequences

Chicago IL

31 January, 2021

8:54 PM

Description

By Yana Kunichoff, Chalkbeat Chicago: With no agreement between the Chicago Teachers Union and school district on the eve of the city's biggest reopening push, officials issued an ultimatum Sunday: Teachers must report to work Monday or be locked out of critical technology platforms. However, the Chicago Teachers Union and many of its members said they plan to work remotely on Monday, as they did last week in defiance of district orders to return to classrooms. That makes Monday a pivotal day: If educators don't report to work in-person and principals lock them out of their email and remote classrooms after work as directed, the union said it would strike, throwing Chicago's efforts to reopen schools to more students into disarray. In the interim, Chicago Public Schools said it will shift reopening until Tuesday, when it expects pre-kindergarten through eighth graders and special education students who've selected in-person learning to be able to report to campuses. In its first reopening push, Chicago Public Schools locked out about 100 teachers after it brought back about 3,200 pre-kindergarten and special education students and nearly 4,000 educators. Monday was supposed to bring the return of nearly 70,000 kindergarten through eighth graders. Related I'm a Chicago teacher headed back to campus. I'm just as confused as you are. School officials said they were disappointed to be facing a return to school without an agreement. "A deal is within reach," said schools chief Janice Jackson. "I am incredibly frustrated, not just as the leader of this system but as a parent." The union and district still have a full work day to come to an agreement and avert a strike in the nation's third largest school district, which would cancel school for 340,000 students. The weekend brought twists and turns. Chicago's visibly frustrated mayor, Lori Lightfoot, expressed dismay with the union leadership at a late Friday press conference, but her tone was more conciliatory Saturday, with reports that the two sides had reached four areas of tentative agreement. By Sunday evening, the two sides were sparring on social media about a day of bargaining that didn't happen. Lightfoot said district negotiators were ready to spend the rest of the day, and all evening, at the bargaining table to make a deal happen and avoid disrupting school. "We have been at the table, we have not left, and we will not leave," said Lightfoot. She said the union had refused to show up to negotiations Sunday: "We need the union at the table." Chicago Public Schools said it waited all day for a response from the union to its latest offer; the union said it was told to not send its team unless it was ready to make major concessions. In a statement on social media, the union said it was "prepared to keep working and negotiating," and said any decision to lock teachers out should be placed at the feet of the mayor and school officials. "That choice won't be ours," they said in a tweet. The union also planned a virtual meeting with its members for Sunday evening. While the majority of teachers had followed the union's directive to work remotely in defiance of district orders last week, nearly 2,000 educators, or 16% of pre-K, cluster and K-8 staff expected in school buildings, reported to work in person on Friday last week. In her comments Sunday, the mayor made a plea directly to educators: "Those who do not report to work, we're going to have to take action," said Lightfoot. "Let's get a deal done tonight." The dispute means families don't know what school will look like this week. Lightfoot said families who need a place for students should bring them to the in-person learning hubs the district has run since the spring. In an email to parents Sunday night, schools chief Janice Jackson explained why the district would take disciplinary action against teachers who did not report to campuses as instructed — an action that would disrupt remote learning for students. "(It is) a situation we have been working night-and-day to avoid. We need CTU leadership to commit to working toward agreement so our teachers can return to work and prevent further disruption to student learning." This story was originally published by Chalkbeat, a nonprofit news organization covering public education. Sign up for their newsletters here.