By Chris Geovanis | December 16, 2022 | News
File under: COVID, COVID-19, Safety Committee
Learn more about important updates on care room attendants — they’re staying — as well as spikes in COVID and other dangerous viruses, safety recommendations (including vaccines, masking), and how to report safety issues in your school
By CTU Communications | March 25, 2022 | News
File under: COVID, Safety
Thanks to the new rules members have won in their long struggle for safety, some 315 schools now have at least one person assigned to their contact tracing team and, of those, more than 230 have more than one contact tracer. This work is sorely needed because more than two-thirds of those schools have vaccinations rates under 50 percent.
By Jesse Sharkey, President | March 4, 2022 | News
File under: COVID, masking
We reached an agreement with Chicago Public Schools in January that guaranteed masking in schools — along with other critical COVID-19 mitigations for safety — through the end of the 2021-2022 school year. Should CPS move toward making masks optional without bargaining to do so safely, we know that this refusal to honor our agreement will have consequences.
By Kurt Hilgendorf, Legislative and Policy Director | March 4, 2022 | Legislative Update, News
File under: COVID, Cristina Pacione-Zayas, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, Janet Yang Rohr, Lindsay LaPointe, pre-k, Standardized Tests
The Illinois House passed two bills this week of key importance to CTU members: HB 1167: COVID Administrative Days and HB 5285: Too Young to Test.
By CTU Communications | January 25, 2022 | News
File under: COVID, Evelyn Colon, vaccination
Veteran educator Evelyn Colon is not taking any chances when it comes to COVID-19. Thanks to Union vaccination efforts, she and her family are fully vaccinated.
By Jesse Sharkey, | January 14, 2022 | News
File under: COVID, COVID-19, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, Jesse Sharkey, Lori Lightfoot
The mayor is so angry at us for winning so much over the past year and a half, she refused to provide even basic safety mitigations.
By CTU Communications | January 12, 2022 | News, Press Release
File under: COVID, COVID-19, Lori Lightfoot, Omicron
Chicago’s mayor initially refused to provide N95 masks for students, and continues to reject opt-out COVID-19 testing as an “invasive medical procedure,” despite its use in Chicago charter schools and districts throughout the state and U.S. CHICAGO, January 12, 2022...
By CTU Communications | January 10, 2022 | News, News Advisory
File under: Bargaining, COVID, COVID-19, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, Lori Lightfoot, Spry
CTU day of action begins with press conference at Spry Elementary in Little Village, where, last week, 130 students were absent on Jan. 3, and more than 30 percent of students present tested positive for COVID-19.
By CTU Communications | January 10, 2022 | News, Press Release
File under: Bargaining, COVID, COVID testing, COVID-19, CPS: Chicago Public Schools
Educators are not the enemy Mayor Lightfoot wants them to be. They are parents, grandparents, clergy, community partners and Chicagoans.
By CTU Communications | January 8, 2022 | News
File under: #LoriLockout, COVID, CPS: Chicago Public Schools
CTU officers and staff, joined by the Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr., held a press conference at CTU HQ (watch the officer press conference now) in which we outlined our new comprehensive proposal to CPS.