CPS Says CTU Is Proposing ‘Illegal Strike;’ Union Medical Consultant Says Pandemic Is A ‘Disaster’ And In-Person Learning Simply Is Not Safe
CBS Chicago 1/22/2021 Syndicated Local – CBS Chicago
CHICAGO (CBS) A day after the Chicago Teachers Union House of Delegates passed a resolution that would allow for teachers to go on working remotely after schools reopen for kindergarten through eighth-grade students, the Chicago Public Schools called the move an “illegal strike.”
Teachers are concerned about possible coronavirus infections in schools.
The resolution would apply starting on Monday, Jan. 25, or whatever date Mayor Lori Lightfoot and the Chicago School Board require kindergarten through eighth-grade teachers to return to school for in-person learning. That date is a week ahead of the planned return date for K-8 students.
Matt Masterson | January 11, 2021 3:19 pm
(WTTW News)
A victory for the Chicago Teachers Union in Springfield on Monday could mark a change in the way the union is able to bargain with Chicago Public Schools over plans to reopen schools and other issues.
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The Illinois Senate on Monday passed HB 2275 on a 38-16 vote. That bill, which now heads to Gov. J.B. Pritzker for approval, would repeal Section 4.5 of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act, which has limited the CTU’s bargaining power since 1995.
State Sen. Bill Cunningham, D-Chicago, who sponsored the bill in the senate, said the legislation would “essentially level the playing field on collective bargaining” by giving Chicago teachers the same rights that teachers already have in every other school district statewide.
Illinois Senators voted to repeal a section of the Illinois Educational Labor Relations Act that limited issues CTU could bargain over. It now heads to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s desk, although the governor has not said if he plans to sign it.
A 25-year-old, one-page section of an Illinois law governing educational labor that limits the Chicago Teachers Union’s bargaining rights could be repealed as soon as this weekend in Springfield.
Chicago teachers refusing to return to school face discipline, up to firing
Chicago teachers refusing to return to school face discipline, up to firing The Chicago Teachers Union is encouraging Chicago Public School teachers to “take action” against the school district, but the union’s agenda risks teachers’ jobs without backing by science or law.
Chicago Public Schools students haven’t been in a classroom for 10 months. Pre-kindergarten and some special education students are slated to return Jan. 11, with elementary students returning Feb. 1.
But conflicts between the district and the union representing teachers are further jeopardizing their educations.
Approximately 5,000 CPS teachers were set to return to their buildings Jan. 4 to prepare for the Jan. 11 return of pre-kindergarten and special education students. But half stayed home amid claims by the Chicago Teachers Union that schools weren’t safe.