Chicago teachers begin vote to defy order to return to class

CHICAGO (AP) — Chicago teachers began voting Thursday to defy orders to report for in-person class next week ahead of elementary students' return, actions the nation's third-largest school district said could lead to “an illegal strike.”

The Chicago Teachers Union fiercely opposes Chicago Public Schools' reopening plans over safety concerns during the coronavirus pandemic. The roughly 355,000-student district, which went online in March 2020, has gradually welcomed students back. Thousands of pre-kindergarten and special education students chose in-person learning this month. Teachers who didn't show were punished.

Roughly 10,000 educators in kindergarten through eighth grade are expected to report for duty next week, but the union's House of Delegates approved a resolution late Wednesday to skip classroom teaching and continue remotely. Students in kindergarten to eighth grade have the option to return two days a week starting Feb. 1. No return date has been set for high school students.

Both sides have been negotiating for months with the union saying the district hasn't gone far enough in its safety plan and is putting educators at unnecessary risk. CPS officials say, among other things, it has placed thousands of air purifiers in classrooms and required masks. The district also cites a city study on private schools, which have largely remained open.

“We are only moving forward with our reopening plan because public health experts have made it clear that bringing students back is both safe and necessary, and we are fully committed to providing you the safe working environment you deserve,” the district said in a letter to staff Thursday, adding that teachers would be expected to return to work unless they had an approved reason. “A collective failure to do so constitutes an illegal strike.”

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