{"id":22096,"date":"2021-02-01T17:15:51","date_gmt":"2021-02-01T17:15:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jacobinmag.com\/2021\/02\/lori-lightfoot-chicago-teachers-union-covid-19\/"},"modified":"2021-02-01T18:40:38","modified_gmt":"2021-02-01T18:40:38","slug":"lori-lightfoot-is-insisting-on-forcing-chicago-teachers-into-unsafe-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/02\/01\/lori-lightfoot-is-insisting-on-forcing-chicago-teachers-into-unsafe-schools\/","title":{"rendered":"Lori Lightfoot Is Insisting on Forcing Chicago Teachers Into Unsafe Schools"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n\n\n\n

Despite Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot\u2019s own admission that reopening other parts of the city like restaurants would be unsafe given COVID-19 infection rates, she is insisting Chicago teachers and students return to in-person learning. The Chicago Teachers Union has voted to defy the mayor, refusing to return to schools under current conditions.<\/h3>\n\n\n
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\n Chicago mayor Lori Lightfoot in Logan Square, 2019. (Scott Olson \/ Getty Images)\n <\/figcaption> \n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n\n

Shortly after this piece’s publication, Mayor Lori Lightfoot announced<\/a> that contrary to her previous statements, Chicago teachers will not be locked out of their online teaching platforms on February 2. Lightfoot says she is “calling for a forty-eight-hour cooling off period that will hopefully lead to a final resolution on all open issues.”<\/p>\n

\u2014 February 1, 2021, 6:35 PM EST<\/p>\n\n

In Logan Square, the Chicago northwest side neighborhood where I live, plain white fliers with black, all-caps text have been pasted up on light posts and newspaper boxes. They read, \u201cLORI LIGHTFOOT IS KILLING TEACHERS.\u201d<\/p>\n

In normal times, this might sound like slightly overzealous leftist messaging. But in this case, it\u2019s quite literally true. At least two teachers in the city have died of conditions related to COVID-19 after returning to work in their schools, including a thirty-year veteran first-grade teacher<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The city\u2019s bars and restaurants are operating at significantly reduced capacity at the orders of the mayor, who said<\/a> last week about eating and drinking establishments, \u201cI am optimistic that we will be able to increase capacity soon, but it would be irresponsible and dangerous to rush to reopen further and undo the incredible progress we have made as a city.\u201d Yet she has ordered teachers and staff back to school starting today and refused to agree to basic safety measures proposed by the Chicago Teachers Union.<\/p>\n

This is the second time she has attempted to reopen schools. After a strike vote in August<\/a>, she put the plan on hold. Last week, teachers voted overwhelmingly<\/a> to continue to work remotely despite the mayor\u2019s order. Yesterday Lightfoot doubled down on her promise<\/a> to lock teachers out of their email accounts and teaching platforms at the end of today if they did not come to school.<\/p>\n

\u201cThose who do not report to work \u2014 and I hate to even go there \u2014 we\u2019ll have to take action,\u201d Lightfoot said. The mayor is clearly itching for a showdown with the city\u2019s most powerful and most progressive union.<\/p>\n

Lightfoot claimed on MSNBC this morning that the city has \u201ca very robust vaccination plan\u201d for teachers. This is a baffling claim: Chicago won\u2019t even open public vaccine sites<\/a> for teachers for at least another week. While a select few CPS employees have been vaccinated through private physicians or chain providers like Walgreens, most have been unable to access vaccines. A recent report showed that vaccines have disproportionately gone to wealthier and whiter areas of the city<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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This morning \u2066@chicagosmayor<\/a>\u2069 defending CPS positions on returning In Person learning and claims \u201cwe have very robust vaccination plan\u201d #CPSCTU<\/a> \u2066@Morning_Joe<\/a>\u2069 \u2066@MSNBC<\/a>\u2069 pic.twitter.com\/JMC08hw7KI<\/a><\/p>\n

— Mary Ann Ahern (@MaryAnnAhernNBC) February 1, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n