Dear Mayor Lightfoot:

As the granddaughter, daughter, niece and sister of School Teachers, I am perplexed by your recent hostility towards the Chicago Teachers Union.

Teachers are part of public service, but, they are also people. They are wives, mothers, sisters, daughters, husbands, fathers, uncles, sons.
They have families. Some of them have family members who are immunocompromised, and whose lives should not be risked by exposure to COVID.

I have been confused by the actions of the Chicago Public Schools.

Why were only 35,000 COVID tests sent home with students at the beginning of Christmas Break?
That’s less than 10% of your student population.
Teachers were supposed to be assured by the results from testing less than 10% of the student population?
And, then, that didn’t go right.
24,000 – over half of those tests were ‘ inconclusive’?

You didn’t open up the schools with testing being the first thing to do?

I don’t blame the teachers at all for balking.

How much money did you receive from the federal government in order to shore up schools?

Did every school get up to date air filters for the class?
When you realized that Cousin Omicron had come to America, you didn’t sit down with your staff and draw up a plan to make teachers and students feel safer about being in school?

Why, when vaccines are available on practically every other corner, is there NOT a vaccine mandate – not, the bullshyt you can take a ‘weekly test’ – because that’s garbage

But a vaccine mandate for:
Every adult in the school
Every student, ages 5-17

My niece, a Chicago Public School Student, had a COVID scare in her classroom. After having to take a test, the only ones allowed to return to in-person learning, after having a negative test, were those students who had been fully vaccinated.

In a classroom of THIRTY (THIRTY STUDENTS IN CLASS? That’s a conversation for another day)

How many do you think were able to go back to in-person learning.
A class of Thirty?

NINE!!
NINE
NINE
NINE

WTF?

WHY is there no vaccine mandate for ALL adults and students, ages 5-17.

WHY was there no announcement from CPS, that everyone in a CPS building, staff and students, would be required to mask up, using KN-95 MASKS PROVIDED BY CPS FOR AT LEAST THE NEXT MONTH.

For all that teachers have to go through, risking their actual LIVES to go to work?

No, I don’t think so.

You need to be a leader, and step up and provide these teachers with facilities where they feel safe going to work. Where they feel that as many procedures are in place as possible, to make them feel more comfortable going to work. As it is now, you are asking them to go back to buildings that are unsafe, and where they feel that they are risking their very lives. Going to work shouldn’t be possible death sentence.

Signed,

A Concerned Citizen and Taxpayer

The positivity rate of COVID-19 tests in Chicago Public Schools during the week after winter break was 3½ times as high as it was the week before the break.

— ChicagoTeachersUnion (@CTULocal1) January 9, 2022

The results of tonight's citywide electronic ballot are in. Starting tomorrow, all CTU members at CPS schools should be working remotely. The result of tonight's vote was 73 percent in favor of the remote-work-only job action.

— ChicagoTeachersUnion (@CTULocal1) January 5, 2022

The decision to go remote was not made “CTU leadership.” It was made by us. Those of us who are actually in the building day to day. Those of us who bear the brunt of the consequences of her inaction. The students, parents, and communities that don’t feel safe. We are the union https://t.co/mSP4aWVEAv

— Mr. Teacher (@batcavenotes) January 9, 2022

“If we're not going to acknowledge these issues with infrastructure we're going to keep repeating these issues over and over.”
grateful i was able to voice this in @TeenVogue , cuz when it comes to moments like now, lack of acknowledgment gets us nowhere. https://t.co/FLklF3NI7K

— catlyn🦄 (@catlynsavado) January 7, 2022

“Other Illinois school districts are using an opt-out policy…Evanston, Naperville, Joliet and a few charter schools in Chicago.” @CTULocal1 is asking for the same protections provided to other students around the city. #keepstudentssafehttps://t.co/ZCmJV9a029

— Kaley Jowers (@Ms_Jowers) January 10, 2022

Thank you, @CRitsem! Out here on @MSNBC pointing out the hypocrisy of @ChicagosMayor in the in-person vs. remote debate. Illinois state legislators, Sec of State, 30 school districts, and the Mayor's own office is REMOTE this week. Keep fighting, @CTULocal1! ❤️😷 #RemoteOptionNow pic.twitter.com/Bfid6GLnt8

— Dr Brenna Demands (@BrennaDemands) January 9, 2022

Since I tweeted this 10 hours ago, 3 other staff have received Covid positive results today. (From @ChiPubSchools testing last Tuesday.) They would have worked all week. These are just the cases I know about, at just my school, not counting other day results. 😔 @CTULocal1 https://t.co/Cz58Tz5dpM

— Nora Wiltse (@nswiltse) January 9, 2022