Chicago fight with teachers union looms over 2nd week

By SOPHIA TAREEN and KATHLEEN FOODY
Associated Press

CHICAGO (AP) — The standoff between Chicago school leaders and the teachers’ union over COVID-19 safety protocols stretched into a second week. rhetoric between the two sides became nastier, schools began notifying families of more class cancellations and families’ frustrations grew. Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey says the union and district “remain apart on a number of key features,” including more testing and lower thresholds to shut school for in-person instruction. Chicago schools face the same pandemic issues as others nationwide, with a growing number of districts reverting to remote learning. But the situation in union-friendly Chicago has been amplified in a labor dispute that’s familiar to families in the mostly low-income Black and Latino district.