The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) announced Sunday a mobilization effort by “parents, neighborhood residents,” and teachers against what it calls a “dangerous” plan to reopen Chicago Public Schools (CPS) for in-person learning.
The union said in a press release that “over 50 Chicago neighborhoods” are showing “double digit positivity” for the COVID-19 virus, with teachers reporting “serious safety failures at schools.”
Additionally, CTU stated, “Black and Brown parents continue to reject in-person learning.”
The statement comes in the wake of CPS CEO Janice Jackson’s announcement Friday that teachers who failed to show up for work Monday would not be paid.
“We know that a small portion of staff members may choose not to return,” Jackson said, according to NBC5 Chicago. “Those individuals will be deemed absent without leave, and they will not be eligible for pay going forward.”
“We believe we’ve done every single thing within our power to ensure a safe return to school in this situation,” she added.
As Breitbart News reported, Jackson said approximately half of all teachers in the district failed to show up for work last week after the union “pressured” them.
The CEO said 60.2 percent of all school-based staff who were ordered to report to work did so, including 49.7 percent of all teachers and 70 percent of all paraprofessionals.
Jackson added that 60 percent of all staff returning was actually “significant, considering the fact that they were pressured” not to show up by the teachers’ union, which has continued to cite safety issues due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We fully expect teachers to be treated the absolute same way as any other employee,” she said. “If they are