Friday, March 29

Unions close Chicago public schools for fear of omicron and the city council replies that it will deduct their salary


Updated

In the US, 13 million children depend on school to eat, in many cases because their families do not have resources

Sign at the door of a Chicago college.
Sign at the door of a Chicago college.SCOTT OLSONAFP
  • Covid The US reaches one million cases of Covid-19 in one day

A day after the president of the United States, Joe Biden, opposed the closure of the United States schools by the new wave of Covid-19, the teachers of the third largest city in the country, Chicago, they decided not to go to work for fear of illness.

The initial plan was to resume classes in online format tomorrow. So today, the boys are literally on vacation. But that does not mean that it is a day to celebrate. In the US 13 million children depend on school to eat, in many cases because their families do not have the resources to pay for their food on a daily basis. But the reaction of both the city council and the parents has been of total rejection of the initiative. And the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has stated that it wants to find a solution that is satisfactory for all. The cancellation of the classes was decided on Tuesday in an online vote of its 25,000 affiliates in which 73% vote in favor of not working.

However, Chicago’s 638 public schools were closed today, to the fury of the mayor, the democrat Lori Lighfoot, which already warned on Tuesday, as soon as the union’s decision was known, that teachers who are not in their jobs will have their pay deducted for each day they are absent. Lighfoot has accused the union of “politicizing” the pandemic, and has stated that the decision to suspend classes “has no basis in data, science, or common sense.”

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These tensions between city councils and teachers’ unions are a constant in the United States, especially in large cities. There is the paradox that all cities in that country are controlled by the Democratic party, and that the teachers’ unions are also very close to this political formation. But when it comes to agreeing, ideological affinities are thrown into the air. Add to that the fact that the unions have enormous control of the educational systems and the ground is ripe for a relentless political struggle.

Now, the omicron has raised the tone of the dispute. And Chicago may only be the first place where this situation arises. In many American cities, schools and colleges are considering closing their doors. But it is somewhat complex, among other things because many parents have no one to leave their children with, especially in low-income families in which both parents work, often with several simultaneous jobs.

Added to this, also at the lowest socioeconomic level, the fact that schools are an important element in the fight against poverty and malnutrition. US public schools feed 29.6 million children every day. Of these, 20.1 million do it for free, and almost two million more at a reduced price of 27 euro cents for breakfast and 36 for lunch.

However, cancellations of teaching activity are extended in universities. In Washington, where there is a fierce debate between teachers (in favor of closing schools) and parents (against), the Universities of Georgetown and George Washington have postponed face-to-face classes to February 1. The same has been decided in seven campuses of the University of California system (which is public in that state), as well as in the Universities of Chicago and Harvard, among others.

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