Whether it was worth the fight, say some, about the recent battle between the Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union, depends on who you talk to: for CPS, the battle was won; talk to the CTU, it was a pyrrhic victory that placed them back in the schools, where they wanted to be, but with a deal, that left them pretty much, months ago, asking, and getting what they wanted, but in a partial basis, that left a lot of room for doubt after the union approved the reopening deal this past Wednesday, after a lengthy standoff.
The phased in return for grades K through 8 thrills some parents, but leaves others in doubt of the safety of the schools, and for others, mostly Black and Brown people hanging back, choosing remote instruction out of an abundance of caution, fearing that CPS might not fulfill its promises.
An air of dissatisfaction hangs over the results of the agreement which gives 67,000 preschool students, and those through eighth grade, on a two week schedule, with some already returning Thursday, some on Feb. 22, more on March 1, and the balance on March 8.
Lying at the heart of the union’s demands were vaccination for teachers, and especially those who either had preexisting health conditions, or were living with, or caring for those that did, putting them at risk, for contracting Covid 19; despite some that asserted that the risks were minimal, to nonexistent.
However there are some children, with compromised immune systems, under the condition called MiSC that tested positive for Covid, and studies that showed children could be effective transmitters of the virus, yet that argument fell initially on deaf ears from CPS officials.
Under the leadership of Dr. Janice Jackson, CPS has said that 2,000 vaccines were offered to pre K and special education teachers and staff, with 1,000 given to staff who requested continuance working from home, “because they live with a medically vulnerable household member. Those workers will be required to return two weeks after their first dose,” reported The Chicago Sun Times.
Extending the vaccine to 1,500 workers, at four CPS distinct sites at the end of February gives a more complete cycle, if not one where both were administered.
That was just enough, say some, to return to in person learning, and easing the burden on parents who are unable to work from home, say advocates, and some parents.
CTU gave a simple majority ascent to the plan, with 68 percent of voting members, but with a close vote and 5,000 members not voting, there was as the Times added, “a sign of the split views on reopening schools during the pandemic.”
“Let me be clear. This plan is not what any of us deserve. Not us. Not our students. Not their families. The fact that CPS could not delay reopening a few short weeks to ramp up vaccinations and preparations in schools is a disgrace,” Sharkey wrote in a member letter, released by local media, including the TImes,“This agreement represents where we should have started months ago, not where this has landed. That is a stain on the record of their administration.”
From a process point of view it was messy, with Jackson, at an infamous meeting, giving an unwelcoming attitude of dismissiveness, while Mayor Lori Lightfoot, had a near melt down at a press conference, where, in a raised voice, she accused the union of ill intentions; ironically just at the point when mutual agreement was approaching.
All things being equal Sharkey added, "This agreement also puts us in a vastly better position than we were in November, when even after months of struggle, CPS’ ‘planning’ and ‘preparation’ would have been laughable were it not also so dangerous.”
While the mayor could breathe a sigh of relief that there was not another strike during her tenure, the bad feelings will continue to exist in the nation’s third largest system.
Not far from the surface is race, long a problem in a city beset by racial segregation and strife, and continuing under Black leadership, and also underscores the decades history of white flight from America’s central cities.
The disparities as we have noted before in Chicago schools has been 11 percent white, 81 percent, Black and Brown, and the consequent racial disparities in resources, as well as buildings, has upended how schools are treated, and in both categories, with greater attention to the minority student population.
Not long ago an award winning and multiracial grammar school was faced with a change to a majority white high school, under Mayor Rahm Emanuel, and Jackson only to be forced to back down, after protests ensued.
Parents of racial minorities have complained to me that they are often the last to be consulted for changes, and of course, many are still angered when Emanuel closed nearly 50 mostly Black schools in the city.
Many of these same parents, not trusting the agreement, decided to leave their children in remote learning despite the agreement, out of fear that they will be on the short side.
Case in point is the physical plant of many city schools, what former Gov. Bruce Rauner called “crumbling prisons.” And, with the age of the city and the varied buildings, some indeed resembled his metaphor.
In and insightful and expansive essay in The New Yorker, Keeanga Yamah Taylor cited a recent U.S. Government Accountability Office released a report on the nation’s schools and that forty one percent needed to replace aged heating and ventilation systems; and Chicago in many instances needs are top of the list, where many in a 2018 Chicago Sun Times story, Taylor added “of the hundred and twenty five schools it examined, ninety one failed a quick cleanliness inspection.”
CPS responded with a plan for increased cleanliness, but the news and the optics left a lot to be desired for many parents, and now at the present time with cleaning a necessity as part of school reopening, it’s easy to see that trust was eroded.
Underneath the negotiations is the real fear, that Taylor has noted, is the need to to stem further white flight and to gain more revenue, the need to bolster white attendance in the public schools; which has led to suspicion on the part of the CTU, as well as parents, that people of color might be on the losing side, especially considering not only the demands of today’s society, but as anchors for strong Black neighborhoods, and families.
While the line might not be as bright as Taylor suggests, the future seems uncertain, at best. And, with conflicting guidelines from the Center for Disease Control on reopening, it’s anyone’s best guess, how this will all play out.
