Chicago Parents Say Remote Learning Isn’t Working, Want Their Voices Heard

Labor News

January 31, 2021 Labor, News

Reprinted from The Washington Post by Dawn Reiss on January 30, 2021.

As the Chicago teachers union and the school district continue to argue over reopening terms for in-person instruction, parents have organized to express frustration with the standoff and make their voices heard.

“Parents feel left out,” said Kate Jablonski, a mother of twins who are in kindergarten at New Field Primary School. “Nobody asked parents what was working and what wasn’t working.”

More than 500 parents have joined a grass-roots organization called the Chicago Parents Collective, which is asking the district to reopen schools and hosting a rally on Sunday in Humboldt Park. Schools have been closed for months because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Another parent-led coalition, CPS Sick-Out, is asking Chicagoans to call their children in sick on Monday, when the city says it will open for preschoolers through eighth-graders and special-education students. …

Washington Post 1/30