Chicago Teachers Union keeps 290,000 kids out of school over COVID panic

Ongoing disagreement between Chicago public schools and the city's teachers' union continues to keep kids out of their classrooms.

On Tuesday, the Chicago Teachers' Union voted to revert to remote learning, justifying their decision in the name of public safety. With the vote coming at such short notice, no system had been in place to properly accommodate students, resulting in around 290,000 students not having school on Wednesday. It was later announced that classes on Thursday would be cancelled as well.

"The educators of this city want to be in their classrooms with their students," the teachers' union said in a statement. "We believe that our city’s classrooms are where our students should be. Regrettably, the Mayor and her CPS leadership have put the safety and vibrancy of our students and their educators in jeopardy."

The statement later reads, "As this pandemic continues, we will do everything in our power to ensure that our classrooms are the safest and healthiest places for your children to learn, thrive and grow."

Leaked posts from the teachers' union's private Facebook group show, however, that many seem to be in no rush to return to any semblance of normality.

In the posts, teachers appear to be more concerned with what will happen to their sick days and personal days as schools remain closed.

"I feel no pain," one man said. "They can cancel school until June and I'll be just fine. Been training for this moment all my life."

The decision to cancel classes has caused outrage from city officials, with Mayor Lightfoot even going so far as to call the vote to return to online classes an "illegal work stoppage." As NBC reports, CEO of Chicago Public Schools Pedro Martinez vowed to find a path forward, and said his team is focused on making it to January 18, the day the teachers' union's temporary measures are set to end.

Union president Jesse Sharkey said on Wednesday that he wants stricter health measures to be implemented, suggesting that officials should "provide a test so that people are negative when they come back into a school," and put in place a screening program so that teachers can be sure they are not in contact with anyone who has the virus.

Patience is wearing thin among parents and students alike, as a return to normal learning appears to drift further and further out of the picture.