CHICAGO – New Years, the same pandemic security battles.
Students in the nation’s third-largest school system are out of school for the fourth day in a row Monday as Chicago leaders squabble with the teachers union over a question that has plagued communities since early 2020: Is it safe to operate the schools in person?
The union says no; city and district leaders say yes. Children and families have been stuck in the middle since Wednesday, when teachers voted in favor of the remote control after two days of in-person instruction. So the city said that was not an option, and cut remote schooling entirely.
Negotiations continued over the weekend, but the two sides failed to reach an agreement.
“There hasn’t been enough progress for us to predict a return to school tomorrow,” Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot tweeted Sunday night.
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With COVID-19 infections fueled by the omicron variant on the rise after the holidays, about 5,400 public schools nationwide closed or switched to remote instruction last weekaccording to Burbio, a site that tracks district responses to the pandemic.
Education experts have increasingly warned that the time for district-wide closures has passed and that children must be in school. But the large systems in Newark, Milwaukee, and Detroit, nonetheless switched to remote instruction only throughout this week as COVID-19 infections increased and staff shortages increased.
Because in-person schooling is so critical, experts say, closings for COVID-19 cases or exposures need to be more carefully approached by class or by school, taking into account vaccination rates.
“Every time we close, we are creating more isolation and more time away from teachers in classrooms, who are so critical for students,” said Julia Rafal-Baer, managing partner of ILO Group, an education consulting firm. . Rafal-Baer also sits on the National Assessment Board of Directors, which sets policy for the government’s academic testing regime.
The consequences of the widespread closures “will reverberate for generations,” he added.
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Schools are not safe enough, some unions say
But teacher unions in some large districts say that in-person instruction during the latest surge is dangerous because their districts are not providing the necessary resources, such as extensive COVID-19 testing and higher-quality face masks.
The districts at the national level are struggling to get enough rapid evidencesaid Mike Magee, executive director of Chiefs for Change, a nonprofit organization that supports school superintendents. But, he added, many schools still have the tools to stay open.
“It may seem as dangerous in January 2022 as it was in January 2021, but it is not as dangerous in the vast majority of US districts, particularly in communities with high vaccination rates,” Magee said.
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Teachers don’t always agree.
In San Francisco, where classes resumed Jan.3, teachers are pushing the district to improve N95 or KN95 masks, weekly COVID-19 testing for staff and students, and an additional sick leave extension that It started during the pandemic. The union and the district were unable to agree last week on new health and safety measures and are scheduled to meet again this week. Strikes could be possible if safe working conditions are not ensured, the union president said.
Los Angeles plans to reopen on January 10 for teachers and January 11 for students, with a new requirement for everyone to produce a negative COVID-19 test, regardless of vaccination status. The teachers union had pushed for that measure. Employees must also wear high-quality face coverings, such as surgical masks.
In New York City, the union negotiated to increase COVID-19 testing before reopening on January 3. Until now, schools have largely remained open, but student and staff absences have been high at some schools.
As of Friday, New York City schools reported about 9,500 infections, about 8,000 in students and 1,500 in staff. Six classrooms were closed, but all schools were open, the data showed.
New York City students suffered for the past year and a half when schools closed, Chancellor David Banks said at a news conference last week with Mayor Eric Adams.
Even if school attendance is 50%, Adams added, the students who show up are likely to be the ones who need their building the most to be open.
“His mom or dad had to go to work,” Adams continued. “They did not eat at home. They are in a place that was not safe. That is the population that we often ignore when we take a comfortable perspective.”
Enough exams to keep school?
In Chicago, teachers say the district has not obtained enough evidence to conduct a COVID-19 testing regimen. Nearly 3 in 4 union members voted last week to teach remotely until January 18 or until cases drop below a particular threshold, and the union wants negative examinations of students and staff before reopen.
The union also wants the district to increase a COVID-19 student vaccination program. Only about 35% of Chicago youth ages 5 to 11 have received at least one dose; about 25% are fully vaccinated, according to city data.
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Chicago Public Schools did not enroll in the state COVID-19 testing program for students, known as SHIELD, which offered schools rapid antigen tests along with weekly saliva tests. Chicago Public Schools I selected a different provider for COVID-19 testing.
Hundreds of other schools in Illinois have successfully enrolled in the state program, Melaney Arnold, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health, told USA TODAY.
On Sunday, Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot blamed the union for the missed days of instruction. Members of the teachers’ union “left their post” and “abandoned children and their families“he said on NBC’s Meet the Press.
“We know that the safest place for children is in-person learning in schools, and we have spent hundreds of millions of dollars to make our schools safe,” added Lightfoot.
Chicago educators continue to assert that conditions on the ground are different.
Linda Giles, a CPS nurse at Jensen Elementary Scholastic Academy on the city’s West Side, said vaccination rates are low in her school community. Two mothers of children at school. died of complications from COVID-19 this autumn.
“We had really tough working conditions at that school,” Giles said. “What we really need are mandates and metrics to help keep every school in CPS safe,” Giles said.
Dennis Kosuth, a Chicago Public Schools nurse and parent of an eighth-grade student, said the district should include all children in COVID-19 testing and require parents to disapprove of the opt-out of their children. Currently, the district only evaluates children whose parents choose to participate.
“If you put a group of students in classrooms where they eat lunch without masks, you don’t have to be a rocket scientist; It doesn’t even take a registered nurse to tell you this is a situation that could be a disaster, ”Kosuth said.
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism