Wednesday, July 15, 2020

CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION PRESIDENT SAYS NO RETURN TO SCHOOL BUILDINGS FOR START OF SCHOOL YEAR


The email below was in my inbox this evening. Jesse Sharkey is a real union leader. Here is the best part for me:

We are not going to let political expediency coming from the federal government, the mayor or anyone else endanger our lives.

Please read this email from the Chicago Teachers Union President and try to imagine Michael Mulgrew sending out something similar.

James-

President Donald Trump, U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos and their corporate cronies are pushing to reopen schools with in-person teaching this fall.

Our members, like educators around the country, also want to return to their school buildings—just as desperately as students and parents want them to. We all stand for safe and equitable reopening of our schools.

Unlike Trump and DeVos, however, the Chicago Teachers Union believes the best way to guarantee the safety of our school communities is to begin our school year virtually.

Our new report, "Same Storm, Different Boats: The Safe and Equitable Conditions For Reopening CPS in 2020-21" examines what parents, students and teachers throughout the city of Chicago will need to return to in-person education, and do so safely.

But let's remember, there is no safe way to re-open anything during a pandemic. The only plan CPS has available right now is one that mitigates harm. Which means there is still risk and people will still encounter harm.

So what does this mean in practice?

What the mayor and CPS need to provide

The lack of a negotiated plan that spells out criteria that mitigates the maximum amount of risk leaves us no other choice but to say that we cannot return to in-school, classroom instruction, and must continue remote learning until we clarify how to keep students, educators and school communities as safe as possible.

Our students, their parents and our school communities need stability, agency, support and leadership. CPS needs to implement critical health, safety and staffing measures to protect them.

Specifically, school buildings need to be kept clean and sanitized. There is currently nothing we have seen from the district that guarantees a modicum of safety. There must be widely available masks and other PPE, which includes face coverings for students and additional protective equipment for educators, janitors, nurses and all school staff.

There must be adequate staff on hand in each building—nurses to perform health checks and deal with emergency situations, and counselors and social workers to deal with the trauma inflicted on students and their families by the pandemic.

There must be adequate social distancing, especially for situations in which masks won’t work. We already know that students will have a difficult time wearing masks throughout the entire school day, so it’s critical to maintain a safe distance of six feet between people and desks.

Educators need prep time and self-directed days, and a moratorium on teacher evaluations.

Moreover, our evolving knowledge of this disease tells us that close and prolonged contact with someone who has the virus in a poorly ventilated space is high risk, so the district must specifically take steps to address an airborne pandemic. This includes basic steps like making sure there is plenty of fresh air flow in schools, or even holding some in-person classes outside, where the risks are demonstrably lower.

Lastly, there must be options for people who cannot participate in school—both students and staff—who are immuno-compromised or have other underlying health issues that make coming into school buildings too risky for them.

At this time, it’s not clear how the mayor’s handpicked Chicago Board of Education will respond to these demands. Los Angeles, and San Diego have all recently released plans to reopen based on fully remote learning with some in-person instruction for students with various special needs, but whether the mayor and the school board in Chicago will implement these common-sense measures isn’t yet known.

But schools have to be reopened safely—they can’t be reopened on the basis of political expediency, without criteria and without regard for the lives of the educators, or frankly the lives of students and their families. Sure, younger kids do not seem as vulnerable to this virus as older people, but many students live with middle-aged parents, or immune-compromised siblings, or with grandparents.

The unsafe reopening of schools will surely claim the lives of our loved ones. And we already know that the vast majority of CPS’ student body comes from marginalized Black and Latinx communities that have already been hardest hit by the pandemic, so prematurely reopening schools could further fan the spread of this disease in these already devastated neighborhoods.

Reopening criteria
Every day, Chicago and Illinois experience an uptick in COVID-19 cases and positivity rates, and most concerning are the numbers going up among youth aged 10-19. Our union is choosing certainty over confusion and delay, and we need confidence to move into our school year. That confidence will not come without clear criteria on what constitutes safety for our schools.

How do we assess whether it is safe to return to schools in the fall?

Back in March and April, Gov. J.B. Pritzker said schools should reopen when Illinois enters Phase Four. Two key metrics of Phase Four are cases going down every day and contact tracing of 90 percent of new cases within 24 hours.

Illinois fails on both counts. Over the last 30 days, cases are on the rise across the state.

The disparate impact of COVID-19
We are losing valuable time. The safety we need requires immediate resources, imagination and collaboration. Our union must be and should be in position to improve remote learning for English Language Learners, special education and early childhood education. Our time would be much better spent perfecting our practice and creating platforms to ensure student success under the new normal.

There is a jarringly disparate rate of COVID-19 infection, severe illness and death in Black and Latinx communities, where Black Americans are dying at twice the rate of whites, and structural racism and inequality mean people live with economic and social factors that increase health risks.

Individuals living in these communities are more likely to have “essential” jobs, insufficient housing and health care, and higher levels of pre-existing health conditions. The deaths of essential workers—nurses, bus drivers, meatpackers and Amazon workers—are considered “collateral damage” by Donald Trump, but we do not believe that essential workers are expendable workers.

Essential workers are the parents of our students. In some cases, essential workers are our students. The president and his sycophants think it is reasonable to expect essential workers to die in disproportionate numbers.

We do not.

Ninety percent of CPS students are students of color. Reopening schools as COVID-19 rages across the country is nothing less than a dangerous gamble with the lives of people who come from communities most devastated by this pandemic.

Trump is asking us to accept that the lives of our students and the lives of educators are less worthy of safety, health and dignity. In fact, he is compelled to push that view so that he and other billionaires can add to their vast fortunes. Why else would he demand schools open without providing the funding and resources needed to do so safely?

This also explains why Black and Latinx parents—from Minnesota to Florida—express more hesitation than others about sending their children back to school. The communities most ravaged by this disease know that it is deadly serious, and with the explosion of cases across the U.S., there is real and growing fear about sending kids back into physical classrooms.

Union concern and the common good
The mayor and CPS must begin to see stakeholders—parents, students, educators—as partners. There is no way to create a plan in this moment that ignores our needs. We are not the problem. Donald Trump and Betsy DeVos are the problem. The Union will fight to make any school plan as safe and reasonable as possible. We are going to unite with parents and other unions to present the strongest legal, labor and political front to protect our schools and each other.

We are not going to let political expediency coming from the federal government, the mayor or anyone else endanger our lives.

We need to spend the remainder of the summer fighting for the schools our students deserve, even if we do not return to them in the fall.

All students, but especially our students on the South and West sides of Chicago, must have access to broadband Internet and devices. Their families need Universal Basic Income, with real collaboration to expand the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and extend unemployment benefits and the moratorium on evictions. A large concern about returning to classrooms is about protecting the health and safety of the vulnerable populations we serve.

It is also, however, about our own health and safety. After all, many people are arguing that educators must prove ourselves worthy by returning to work for the good of the nation and its economy.

But we will not allow Trump and the corporations that back him to abuse us or our students for a buck. We will use the power of solidarity and the power of our union to defend ourselves, our students and their families at all costs.

In solidarity,

image
Jesse Sharkey
CTU President

49 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why do you keep posting these things when nobody will opt out, nobody will strike and nobody will stand up to mulgrew?

James Eterno said...

Opt out over for 2020 and irrelevant now. People are going to stand up to the UFT to protect our lives. I am an optimist.

jeff said...

Show me when and where they are standing up...

Anonymous said...

If Chicago can be this strong, so can NYC. Up to us now.

Anonymous said...

Ok, so play it out. Schools open. Then what? Be serious about your answer.

Anonymous said...

Maybe Mulgrew will see what other Union leaders are doing and feel a sense of shame that he is not doing the same and will do something. You have to have a strand of hope.

Anonymous said...

8:08, We refuse to enter Mulgrew/ Carranza's petri-dishes. You wimps can go in to get infected.

Anonymous said...

And you will be fired after 10 days.

Anonymous said...

What are you commenters all writing and talking about?

De Blasio is Mulgrew's daddy. Mulgrew will whatever De Blasio asks of him.

Anonymous said...

Convicted criminals, protesters and foreigners are the only people allowed to perambulate freely in the U.S.

Anonymous said...

Mulgrew has already folded like a cheap suit.

Anonymous said...

Mulgrew has no sense of shame. That is the reason that Randi Weingarten chose hem as her replacement.

Anonymous said...

Did the union encourage the illegal teachers strikes in WVA? No. If we are not willing to stand up for our own lives, do we really deserve the title of professionals? All of us need to stand together. We don't need to have Mulgrew to tell us what to do.

If we go in, we will be helping the spike of new cases. Don't do it and I would rather be fired than dead or have my elderly relatives dead.

Anonymous said...

The Atlantic

Many people who don’t want COVID-19 to be the terrible crisis that it is have clung to the idea that more cases won’t mean more deaths. Some Americans have been perplexed by a downward trend of national deaths, even as cases exploded in the Sun Belt region. But given the policy choices that state and federal officials have made, the virus has done exactly what public-health experts expected. When states reopened in late April and May with plenty of infected people within their borders, cases began to grow. COVID-19 is highly transmissible, makes a large subset of people who catch it seriously ill, and kills many more people than the flu or any other infectious disease circulating in the country.

Anonymous said...

The lack of containment by American authorities has resulted in not only lost lives, but also lost businesses, savings accounts, school years, dreams, public trust, friendships. The country cannot get back to normal with a highly transmissible, deadly virus spreading in our communities. There will be no way to just “live with it.” There will only be dying from it for the unlucky, and barely surviving it for the rest of us.

Anonymous said...

Teachers dont matter, as per the aft president.

"Normally, people don't play with kids' lives. They'll play with adults' lives, but they don't play with kids' lives." —
@AFTunion
President

Anonymous said...

My nieces went to a week of summer camp- everyone had a neg Covid test the week before, disinfected + isolated all their belongings for 8 hrs in the sun, they had masks, handwashing, social distancing and 85% of activities outside. 85 kids caught Covid. In a WEEK.

Anonymous said...

If you think the uft is gonna all of a sudden do its job, you are crazy.

Anonymous said...

Our bosses only believe in fast food workers striking.
Randi Weingarten Retweeted
SEIU
@SEIU
This just in... you're going to want to be there.

✊��#StrikeForBlackLives http://j20strikeforblacklives.org

Anonymous said...

Oh, I see. Only strike for black lives. Typical aft.

James Eterno said...

To be fair, AFT has supported teacher strikes in LA, Chicago and other places around the USA too.

Anonymous said...

In fairness to the aft...The Rise Of Black Lives Matter Coincides With Some Of The Worst Violent Crime Recorded In Nearly 3 Decades

Anonymous said...

I don't want to strike and I am willing to go to school but out of loyalty to my fellow teachers, I will not be a scab.

I don't trust the UFT, the DOE, politicians, experts, or the media; either side. All of these people are looking out for themselves. Everyone is just a number to them, attached to a $$$ and possibly a vote.

Jeff said...

If you think this magical revolt is gonna happen, I think you are sadly mistaken. What would make you think that? On what date will we decide action must be taken?

Anonymous said...

How are we even considering opening? The mental anguish (for me) and for kids and parents all summer is unnecessary. We don’t know when we are reporting, if we are getting Spring Break pay. We know it’s not safe to report and now we are supposed to scramble for a note from a physician and burden the healthcare system when it’s not safe for anyone to report?!....

James Eterno said...

Where 10:54? Please document where this happened for us to believe it is fact based.

Anonymous said...

This is insanity.

Anonymous said...

"I will not be a scab" I prefer to keep getting abused, being sent into dangerous schools, being ignored and paying for nothing as mulgrew makes 300k.

Anonymous said...

Since you are all so confident, on what date do we officially ALL email the uft saying that we will not walk into the building on the first day?

Anonymous said...

Please don’t berate me for asking this but how on earth is it ok that 30 BMI and smoking is on this list? So because I have made healthy choices and take care of myself, I HAVE TO be exposed to COVID? I completely understand they are basing this on CDC high risk components, but all because I am not high risk doesn’t mean I will not possibly die from this virus. Sure, the probably it less but it’s still very possible. How is this even legal? I feel like it’s discrimination for being healthy and I just feel like this is a lawsuit waiting to happen. If everyone can’t go back in, then we shouldn’t be going in!

Anonymous said...

I'm getting sick of this. We all know the uft will do nothing about september.
Has there been any mention from the UFT about how they can/will ensure that we are actually made aware of positive cases in the school building to avoid a repeat of what they did in the Spring?

Anonymous said...

I guess next may people will remind us how we've been screwed and should opt out. maybe this time we will listen after another year of screwing.

Anonymous said...

Mayor just said...huge demand to get schools open.

Anonymous said...

Is anyone listening to the mayors insane plan of putting students in other locations when they are not in school? It is a recipe for disaster. Kids with be exposed to kids and people NOT from their schools and will by tracing harder as well as working in a NYC public school more dangerous. This is the absolute moment the UFT has to speak up now. Our President needs to speak up as out leader. This is a crazy solution with complete disregard to human safety.

This job is not worth my life or my families lives.

Anonymous said...

https://www.wftv.com/news/trending/85-campers-staff-test-positive-covid-19-ymca-summer-camp/OPSPVDSXRFCLZOD7SEMLCYN2OA/

This is frightening

Anonymous said...

The uft and doe wouldn't flinch if you got throat cancer. I don't know what you all see in them.

Anonymous said...

I tried to get you to throw the bums out, you wouldnt listen.

Anonymous said...

More balls than us. More balls than uft. Dues well spent.

Thank you to the staff for walking out. This summer school was not ready to be open and never should have!

Osseo Summer School Staff Walks Out, Saying COVID-19 Precautions Are 'Extremely Lacking'

Anonymous said...

Nobody cares. Just like nobody cares who puts all the money into the tax basket. The top 1% pays 38.5% of income taxes. The top 10% pays 69.1% of income taxes. People are too lazy to check the stats for themselves.

Anonymous said...

It has been decided that teachers are essential workers. Childcare is needed for workers. That's the citiy's priority. We teachers have done nothing to show the city that is run by democrats that we should be feared. Blue no matter who and pay dues no matter what is why no one listens to us. We can argue about how bad the republicans are but until we're willing to pull dues and become a swing state, republicans won't court us and democrats will continue to screw us. Schools will open, chaos will ensue, teachers will die and school life will continue to be a shit show in a hellhole and in November, most NY teachers will vote blue, no matter who and come June will not opt out and the cycle continues.

Jonathan said...

Hate to say it, the ones who kept saying to opt out may have been correct. We have no leverage. We will continue to be ignored. Uft wont help. James was so angered in march but in the end discouraged opt out. Well, look where we are.

Prehistoric pedagogue said...

Doctors, cops, paramedics all have to go to work. Unfortunately, so do teachers. The farce of remote learning must end. It just didn’t work and won’t work in the future either. The public will no longer accept paying teachers to stay home. That’s just the plain unvarnished truth. And to whoever keeps comparing mulgrew to a cheap suit, please stop. I think you will find that suits pretty much fold the same way regardless of cost. Find another metaphor

Prehistoric pedagogue said...

Actually, it’s a simile. Sorry

Anonymous said...

I am not putting my life on the line for a fucking system that treats us like shit in unventilated buildings. No way.

Anonymous said...

Prehistoric, you are wrong.

Anonymous said...

Hey Anonymous 10:30- you spewed the same shit on the DOE teachers' FB page. You'll be a fine administrator someday soon.

Anon2323 said...

Diblasio is so fake his Real Name is Warren Wilhelm fucking fraud whose father was a socialist. New york City cannot be run by a moronic ass like him. If we get a real chancellor, such as an educator in DOE for 20 plus years, a real UFT tight union, then we get slowly get back on track.With this leadership we have no choice but to stand together and fight with the parents too. Liberals whine the loudest 90% libs so lets get it going !!!!

Anonymous said...

Agree with the statement: "Our union is choosing certainty over confusion and delay, and we need confidence to move into our school year. That confidence will not come without clear criteria on what constitutes safety for our schools."

Certainty is not the same as speculation. Safety plans don't mean anything if the funding to implement every single safety precaution is not available.

Anonymous said...

A true leader: "...many people are arguing that educators must prove ourselves worthy by returning to work for the good of the nation and its economy.

But we will not allow Trump and the corporations that back him to abuse us or our students for a buck. We will use the power of solidarity and the power of our union to defend ourselves, our students and their families at all costs."