CHICAGO (CBS) — The fight over COVID safety measures in Chicago Public Schools rages on, as members of the Chicago Teachers Union held a rally Wednesday morning outside Jensen Elementary Scholastic Academy in East Garfield Park to demand better protections for students and staff.
CBS 2’s Mugo Odigwe reports the union claims 10 out of 17 classrooms at Jensen are now quarantined, and they said Mayor Lori Lightfoot isn’t listening to their safety concerns.
“You cannot be disappointed when you are in control. You cannot be disappointed when you have power,” said CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates.
Gates was responding to the mayor telling WTTW in an interview that she was disappointed with how CPS has handled testing and contact tracing so far this school year.
“Last winter, we put together an agreement that had people in this school community getting tested every single week. This year they haven’t been tested,” Gates said.
CTU members said schools need more nurses, a robust vaccination plan, better contact tracing, and a solid testing plan. They claimed the district has scaled back on all of those since the start of the school year.
It’s worth noting these are some of the same issues Lightfoot voiced disappointment in.
“There’s 10,000 students in quarantine in the city of Chicago right now. Quarantine is a crude measure for trying to stop spread of COVID in our schools,” CTU President Jesse Sharkey said.
He said that’s why a vaccination plan is needed, adding that a majority of the schools with a high number of quarantines are in certain communities.
“If you look in middle class White communities, vaccination rates are high. Places like Lincoln Park in the high 80s. Overall among White students, 55 percent,” Sharkey said,
As for working class black communities, Sharkey said, “among student age population, it’s 24 percent. What that means is that unvaccinated communities we have to protect by closing classrooms.”
Sharkey said the union needs a safety agreement with CPS.
The district didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.