Chicago Teachers Walkout Following The Politics, Not The Science

CHICAGO — Since mid-December, Chicago Teachers Union boss Jesse Sharkey tried to sell the public on the false narrative that in-person learning wasn't safe districtwide in city public schools.

It started with hints. In a Dec. 17 holiday message to members, Sharkey held up coronavirus outbreaks and student quarantines at two city schools and at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, of all places, as evidence that Mayor Lori Lightfoot and Chicago's top doctor "bury their heads in the sand and insist schools are safe."

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By the end of December, the union started polling members about their desire to switch to remote learning in more than 500 schools without permission from Chicago Public Schools leaders.

At the same time, city public health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady advised that if coronavirus outbreaks were to surge, CPS officials had plans in place to handle spikes in cases on a class-by-class and school-by-school basis.

That's for good reason, according to December coronavirus case data for every city public school obtained by Patch.

Coronavirus infections did not impact all schools equally.

In December, 56 percent of the city's 517 public schools reported three or fewer coronavirus cases, the data shows.

During that period, 56 schools — about 11 percent — reported 10 or more COVID-19 cases. High schools accounted for 25 of the schools with more than 10 coronavirus cases.

In all, 55 city public schools controlled by CPS reported zero coronavirus cases for students and adults in December, the data shows.

As for the number of students quarantined for coming into close contact with someone who tested positive for coronavirus, CPS data shows "96 to 99 percent" of those children did not go on to develop COVID-19, officials said.

"For the past several months, we had already responded to COVID-19 cases on a classroom-by-classroom basis, transitioning classrooms to remote learning when needed. It was working well. Based on our experience and data, we believe that at this stage in the pandemic a classroom-by-classroom and school-by-school approach is best," a CPS spokesperson said in an email to Patch Monday.

"That is because all of the proven mitigation measures in place — universal masking, social distancing, vaccination, hand hygiene, evidence-based protocols for disinfection of contaminated spaces, adequate ventilation, testing and other measures including contact tracing. Notably, these extensive protective layers are not in place in last-minute, informal, unstable learning and care settings."

As of Monday, CTU bosses continue to insist that in-person learning at city schools isn't safe districtwide.

CTU leaders want to set metrics that would trigger a switch to remote learning at all CPS schools. Lightfoot and public school leaders continue to reject that proposal, while agreeing to provide more masks, boost testing and set up contact tracing teams, among other things.

All the while, the union's demands included an arbitrary date for returning to school buildings, Jan. 18, which happens to be the Tuesday after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

Science, data and public health guidance are not on CTU's side.

Neither is about 16 percent of CPS staff. That's how many educators and staff showed up at city public schools Monday on the second week of the union's in-person learning boycott that City Hall considers an "illegal strike," district officials said.

And CTU officials are collecting a list of scabs, and threatening teachers who show up at schools with yet-to-be-determined punishment.

"Because [CTU] leadership is at the table everyday fighting for safety measures with the Mayor, they have yet to determine what action will be taken against those who are not participating in the work action," CTU field representative Adriana Cervantes wrote in an email to members.

The letter declared that teachers who don't obey are "contributing to the division within our union," and if it continues, "soon we won't have a union to fight for anything."

Lightfoot has repeatedly said she will not agree to CTU's demand for districtwide remote learning. More than that, CPS officials say that without the direction of Awrady, the city's public health chief, the switch to remote learning violates state law.

Meanwhile, Sharkey's public updates on negotiations have resorted to name-calling.

“The mayor is being relentless, but she’s being relentlessly stupid, relentlessly stubborn," he told the Sun-Times, which is owned in part by the Chicago Federation of Labor, which counts CTU as a member.

Science, data and public health guidance suggest there's a compromise to be had that could get CPS students back in class safely, with protocols that deal with outbreaks as they come without needlessly shutting down in-person learning in buildings that aren't plagued by an outbreak.

From the beginning, though, CTU's coronavirus fearmongering used news of a few outbreaks — including one at a university in New York — as an opportunity to flex its political might.

Top CTU organizer Marty Ritter made that clear Sunday while negotiations continue at the bargaining table. He posted a tweet that's a reminder teacher safety isn't the only thing on the union's mind as the walkout keeps about 330,000 students from returning to school buildings.

Ritter banged the Twitter drum for the union's political campaign war chest with a thinly veiled reference to running a candidate against Lightfoot during the next election cycle.

"What if I told you there was a union political action fund you could voluntarily contribute to once, weekly, or even monthly that helps with municipal elections (ahem 2023)? Join CTU PAC," Ritter wrote.

Well, it's safe to say CTU's pandemic politics are on full display while school kids sit at home.

Mark Konkol, recipient of the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for local reporting, wrote and produced the Peabody Award-winning series "Time: The Kalief Browder Story." He was a producer, writer and narrator for the "Chicagoland" docuseries on CNN and a consulting producer on the Showtime documentary "16 Shots."

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