Chicago is behind (again). What we see in Los Angeles is a burgeoning partnership between @UTLAnow and their district—a remote learning plan that recognizes that a) we are in a pandemic, and b) the social inequities that existed already have been exacerbated.
It isn't perfect, but it's an agreement.
We don't have that.
We can’t tell if CPS lacks imagination, or if it’s a grudge match, or if they’re afraid to do what is being proposed, or if they’re in default mode to a reflexive “no” to anything we say.
It almost feels like we’ve been punished because we’re trying to keep members, students and their families safe.
That's petty.
They have rejected every single demand or idea we’ve put forth that responds to the needs of the stakeholders in our school communities.
So we're between a rock and a hard place. COVID is the rock. The mayor and CPS is the hard place.
So we're between a rock and a hard place. COVID is the rock. The mayor and CPS is the hard place.
We couldn’t compel CPS to engage in bargaining a memo of understanding for remote learning like they did in L.A. But we have a contract. And in lieu of a remote learning agreement, we will have to enforce our current contract. And we will.
We issued our first grievance today regarding infrastructure. We need actual infrastructure to provide instruction. As of today, we don’t have that. We have never struggled through a pandemic. We have never taught remotely. We have never parented through a pandemic.
But as any of our members will tell you, we routinely get directives and information from Central Office that make zero sense. What we do is #makeitmakesense. We do that all the time.
This fight is far from over. But in the meantime, expect educators to do what they've always done—take the worst the system throws at them and make things more humane and less onerous.
Families need tech support, teachers need more support personnel, and we need a phase-in of minutes until students build up their screen tolerance and we can do school the way it’s intended. That's a start. Educators and parents know best. CPS and the mayor just have to listen.
