CHICAGO: The Chicago teachers’ union told its members on Wednesday to remain at home and vowed further job actions if the district moved to discipline them, delaying a staggered reopening of schools that began earlier this month.
Pre-school and special education students, who had returned to classrooms on Jan. 11, were told there would be no school on Thursday. And the return next week of some 70,000 elementary and middle school students to in-person teaching is now in question.
Chicago Public Schools, the nation’s third-largest school district, has been trying to reopen its classrooms after students had been kept home for months by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The district, which oversees 355,000 students, ordered 10,000 teachers back to work on Wednesday despite a vote by 71% of union members to keep teaching remotely until a stronger health and safety agreement is reached.
“Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) leadership continues to direct their members who support pre-k and cluster…