Chicago public school students returning to classrooms amid COVID surge
ABC News
In-person learning for more than 350,000 students resumes Wednesday.
More than 350,000 public school students in Chicago are expected to resume in-person learning on Wednesday after a tentative agreement was reached between the school district and the Chicago Teachers Union to bolster classroom safety amid a wave of COVID-19 infections.
A deal was struck Monday night to end nearly a week of in-classroom cancellations and remote learning. Tuesday marked the fifth day students have been out of classrooms after a long holiday break.
The more than 25,000 teachers and staff in the nation's third-largest school district are to return to their schools on Tuesday to prepare for reopening classrooms.
Negotiations between the CTU and the district focused on demands to expand student testing for the virus and to create a set of metrics designed to trigger closing schools and returning remote learning if coronavirus infections continue to soar. The talks grew contentious at times as union leaders accused Mayor Lori Lightfoot of "bullying" teachers back to the classrooms and school district officials accused the union of staging an "illegal walkout."
