Reprinted from The Chicago Tribune by
Withdrawing threats to lock out educators who refused to work in person Monday, Chicago Public Schools and city officials called for a two-day “cooling-off” period during which educators will be allowed to teach remotely and students will continue learning from home.
“We have reached another important milestone today in our efforts to provide in-person learning for our students,” Mayor Lori Lightfoot and CPS CEO Janice Jackson said in a joint statement Monday afternoon. “We have secured agreement on one other open issue and made substantial progress on a framework that we hope will address the remaining issues. We are calling for a 48-hour cooling off period that will hopefully lead to a final resolution on all open issues.”
That’s no guarantee negotiations with the Chicago Teachers Union will stop being heated, though it’s a sign of how much has changed since Lightfoot and CPS officials initially insisted they did not have to negotiate a reopening plan with the 25,000-member union. …
