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Chicago Teachers Union boss calls Lightfoot ‘relentlessly stupid’ for trying to reopen schools

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Updated  January 10, 2022 4:13pm CST
Education
FOX 32 Chicago

Chicago elementary school defies union, returns to class

Cars lined up on South Homan Avenue Monday morning as parents dropped the children off for school.

CHICAGO - Cars lined up on South Homan Avenue Monday morning as parents dropped the children off for school.

Even in the midst of a standoff between Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union, teachers and parents at Mt. Greenwood Elementary took matters into their own hands, by reporting for school.

More than 90 percent of Mt. Greenwood Elementary staff were willing to work Monday, and as negotiations continue between CTU and the district, many Mt. Greenwood parents were counting their blessings to have their children back in school.

"I feel great. It's wonderful. They should be in school. It's better in school," said one mom who gave only her first name, Karen. "They're learning way better than being at home."

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Although she acknowledged there could be consequences for the teachers who are defying the union.

"I worry about these teachers a lot, because they are here for the kids," Karen said.

Your Take: Standoff between CPS-CTU over COVID safety sparks concern from parents

Chicago Public Schools parents Andrew Scott and Juliette Goldstein share their perspectives on classes being canceled while officials and CTU members negotiate over COVID safety protocols.

CTU President Jesse Sharkey meantime, called Mayor Lori Lightfoot "relentlessly stupid" for trying to get the teachers back in the classroom.

"We are asking for some basic common sense safety measures. We want a metric when the majority of the classes are on quarantine. We don't have the reassurance we need to restart school," Sharkey said.

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He spoke outside Spry Elementary School in a Little Village Monday morning, joined by concerned parents who say too many children at Spry are in quarantine. They feel it's safer for them to stay home.

Those comments come after Lightfoot appeared on NBC's Meet the Press on Sunday.

"This walkout by the teachers union, which is illegal, has had cascading, negative ripple effects, not only on the students and their learning, their social-emotional welfare, but also on the families themselves," she said.

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"It is making them have tenuous financial status because they have to work, but they also have to take care of their kids."

Of course that is not the case at Mount Greenwood. 

There is no word yet if classes will be canceled again Tuesday.

Over the weekend, Gov. Pritzker offered CPS 350,000 rapid antigen tests, and the union is calling on the federal government for more help in negotiating a deal.