Chicago Teachers are Playing Hooky
Chicago teachers are taking a stand against the district leaders.
Photo by Max Bender on Unsplash
Chicago teachers are coming together to rise up against the rules about schools being in person.
Over the past couple months, a new strand of Covid-19 has come out. The Omicron variant has followed us into 2022 and unfortunately it’s causing disruption in many communities.
All the Covid cases have risen due to Omicron. It spread throughout the holidays and is still going strong, as Covid rates are at a record high.
Chicago has been badly hit in recent weeks. The teacher’s union in Chicago is outraged because the school district decided to keep schools in session and continue with normal Covid procedures.
As stated in the New York Times “Chicago Teachers Union have accused the school district of failing to adjust to Omicron, and the growing threat of breakthrough infections. During the holiday break, they had asked for either universal P.C.R. testing of students and staff or a two-week transition to remote learning.” The teachers are feeling uncomfortable and unsafe to carry on as usual. They claim they are being forced to do school in extreme conditions.
Many schools in March of 2020 cancelled when the daily count was over 1,000 new cases, but now Omicron has taken over and has spiked the numbers up to 100,000 new cases per day. Strangely, many people seem less worried about the number of cases than they were last year. Right now in the United States there are a total of 57,041,530 cases.
Chicago’s teachers have stated their case but so have many district officials. Mayor Lori Lightfoot expressed her feelings on the strike, saying that reverting to online schooling was unacceptable and unnecessary, and her administration decided to call off class altogether. “Nobody signs up for being a home-schooler at the last minute,” she said. She explained the issues by pointing out how many parents who work cannot afford to stay home.
The teachers’ union has been very effective in the past. Now that Chicago’s teachers are fighting back, what does this mean for Williamsburg, VA.? Will our beloved teachers be fed up with feeling unsafe or will our teachers want to persevere and teach on?