Union approves deal with Chicago schools to return to class

The Chicago Teachers Union has approved a deal with the nation’s third-largest school district to get students back to class during the coronavirus pandemic, union officials announced early Wednesday. “The fact that CPS could not delay reopening a few short weeks to ramp up vaccinations and preparations in schools is a disgrace.” But in a statement, Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS CEO Janice Jackson defended the agreement, saying it “ensures families have options to choose in-person learning and make a plan that is best for them.” Further, after weeks of pointing to $100 million that has been spent to make schools safe, Lightfoot and Jackson said that the vote itself by the union “reaffirms the strength and fairness of our plan, which provides families and employees certainty about returning to schools and guarantees the best possible health and safety protocols.” The first wave of students and staff, in pre-K and special education, is due back Thursday, with parents still having the option of remote learning. Those students briefly returned last month, but then stopped amid the escalating fight with the union, which voted to continue remote teaching and reject the district’s plans. The union contends the district’s plans fall short in protecting teachers and that not enough students have been interested in returning to fully staff more than 600 schools.