According to a recent news update, Chicago officials have called off classes for public schools students for two days within this week after reaching an impasse with the teachers union of the city over remote learning that is considered safe during the ongoing wave of COVID-19.
City leadership, including Mayor Lori E. Lightfoot, has specifically asked the teachers of public schools to continue in-classroom instructions. However, 88% of the Chicago Teachers Union’s leadership along with 73% of the members voted on Tuesday in the favor of providing remote education to the students as it would be safer in such critical pandemic times.
Right after the voting, the officials decided to cancel all in-person along with virtual classes on Wednesday. They also announced that instruction will also be canceled again on Thursday.
“I understand your frustration and deeply regret this interruption to your child’s learning,” Martinez said earlier Wednesday.
The disruption for the students is marked with an escalation in the current debates between the teachers and officials regarding the pandemic protocols. In addition, the teachers said their decisions about remote learning were considered as an attempt to safely instruct the students amid the COVID-19 wave of infections.
“I’m urging teachers. Show up to your schools. Your kids need you,” Lightfoot said on Twitter.
Most of the teachers who attempted to log in to their remote-learning portals on Wednesday found themselves logged out of their accounts, according to the union.
“We are being inundated with calls and emails this morning from educators who attempted to log into their platforms to connect with their students and teach remotely, and safely, but are being locked out by Mayor Lightfoot,” union officials said on Twitter on Wednesday morning.
Chicago is currently facing an upsurge in the COVID-19 cases as the seven-day average of the new cases skyrocketed from 726 Nov. 30 to 4,770 on Dec. 30, the Chicago Health Department said.
