UPDATED TO REFLECT DEVORE MOTION AGAINST CPS: Chicago Teachers Union appeased yet again. CPS agreed to mask Chicago’s 330,000 students through August 2022 – Wirepoints

By: Ted Dabrowski and John Klingner

UPDATE (Mar. 1, 2022, 5:55 pm): Attorney Tom DeVore initiated a new motion against CPS on Tuesday, March 1st. He asked Sangamon County Circuit Judge Raylene Grischow to immediately halt student masking in the district. DeVore argues the students and parents that originally sued CPS “are suffering continuing harm” and that students are “being subjected to wearing a mask as a type of quarantine without being provided” their rights of due process.

In the heat of the Chicago Teachers Union four-day walkout last January, Chicago school officials and Mayor Lori Lightfoot appeased the Chicago Teachers Union yet again. As part of a “safety” agreement signed between CPS and the CTU to resolve the walkout, the mayor agreed to keep Chicago’s 330,000 students masked through August 2022. 

The errant agreement to keep kids masked in Chicago is a continuation of a long-standing practice by city and school officials to appease the union at the expense of children’s welfare. We laid out that long history most recently in a January Wall Street commentary piece titled, “Why the Chicago Teachers Union always gets its way.” 

Here’s what the January 12, 2022 “safety” agreement includes:

“Recognizing the increase in COVID-19 cases as a result of the Omicron variant, the parties agree to the following measures that will be in place until August 26, 2022…

Masking: CPS will provide KN95 masks for staff and students use in addition to the medical grade masks and other face-covering PPE (e.g. face shields) it provides for staff and students as agreed to in the February 2021 MOA through the conclusion of the 2021-22 school year.”

Never mind that Gov. J.B. Pritzker ended Illinois’ statewide school mask mandate on Friday, Feb. 25 (get the real story here). Or that the CDC relaxed its masking guidelines for schools on the same day. Or that research from both sides of the aisle continues to find masks harmful for kids. Or that minority children are the most hurt by COVID mitigations including remote learning and masks (CPS is 85 percent minority). Officials at both the school district and the union insist that their agreement is intact and that they’ll keep masking kids.

CPS said in a letter to parents last week that it will continue to require masks and “We all look forward to the day when masks are no longer necessary in schools, and we plan to work with our labor and public health partners on the best way to preserve a safe learning environment for all. For now, though, we need to remember that school buildings are not like other indoor settings.” 

CTU also added in a statement: “We’re glad that CPS will continue to honor the safety agreement that our members sacrificed four days of pay for last month. This agreement today provides Chicago’s public school communities with the legal right to guarantee safety, despite a right-wing legal attack to remove public health protections.”

CPS CEO Pedro Martinez also reminded parents in a letter this weekend: “To ensure the continued safety of our students and staff, CPS will continue to require universal masking in our schools and offices for now.”

The position by CPS and CTU stands in stark contrast to what’s happening throughout the rest of Illinois, where kids have been shedding their masks since February 18 when an appellate court found Pritzker’s appeal “moot.” More than 90 percent of school districts across the state have already moved to make masks optional. The Chicago Archdiocese has also announced that its schools will also move to mask optional on Monday, February 28.

Little did we know when we wrote our WSJ commentary piece that Mayor Lightfoot had given in once again. Sure, the union may eventually relent on student masking given overwhelming outside pressure that’s sure to come, but you have to wonder what the district will have to give up in return.

The underlying problem in Illinois is that state lawmakers grant too much power to public sector unions through the state’s collective bargaining laws. Illinois makes it compulsory that local governments negotiate with the unions. They have to. They have no choice.

And not just over pay, but over a host of issues that shouldn’t be subject to bargaining at all: work hours, fringe benefits, productivity/performance standards, hiring/firing practices, staffing levels, work conditions (safety), and more.

And, we now know, for how long kids should wear masks. 

The “safety” agreement is another example of a collective bargaining agreement gone awry. Mayors like Lori Lightfoot and Rahm Emanuel have proven that politicians aren‘t suitable counterparts to public sector unions that can legally strike and dole campaign money to candidates who take care of the unions. Children and families are the perennial losers under those rules of the game. 

That’s why some states have banned collective bargaining with public sector unions altogether. Georgia, Tennessee and Texas, for example, forbid local governments from negotiating with teacher unions. In those states, legislators prioritize ordinary residents and parents’ rights over the power of teacher unions. 

When will Illinois lawmakers finally put parents and students first? When will they finally roll back the public sector union’s collective bargaining powers?

Let’s see if any governor or other legislative candidate wants to tackle this issue full throttle.

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33 Comments
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NB
2 years ago
Rick
2 years ago
Reply to  NB

Someone needs to tell him that the pandemic is over. Oh and science has now shown that 9 out of 10 Covid deaths were of a vaccinated person. Oh and science has shown the masks do nothing, especially the pretty blinged-up ones so many of the female teachers like to fashion. Sharkey really should learn some science. Even political science is proving that masks are the new third rail of politics. C’mon get with it Sharkey.

nixit
2 years ago

How was CPS able to enact a dress code in a teachers’ contract?

NB
2 years ago

Kind of related, but pretty hilarious that mask madate in us house was lifted 2 hour before Bidens state of union

Wilmette
2 years ago

This should be criminal

Marie
2 years ago

Yes I agree with Pat. The latest I could find online was the “Illinois Right to Collective Bargaining Amendment”. Look it up, read it and VOTE AGAINST IT! The survival of Illinois depends on it. VOTE AGAINST IT! If you think all these caps mean I’m screaming it to you, you haven’t heard anything yet. Everyday Illinois shows us why voting this down is so crucial. Think about it, why does Chicago need a mayor, the teachers union is running the city. Unions will run the whole state if we let this happen. Look it up and read it. I… Read more »

Pat S.
2 years ago

Keep this in mind and please vote against the proposed (and as far as I can tell, unnamed) IL constitutional amendment that would grant IL unions even MORE power than they already abuse.

Kani
2 years ago

BLM terrorist organization infiltrated the school systems and teachers unions. Until that sh*t is cleaned out, kids are doomed.

jajujon
2 years ago

I’m still waiting for Chicago parents to revolt, but I think many of them have been convinced that COVID is so dangerous they can’t risk it, despite so much evidence to the contrary. Only they will force change. Don’t count on Lori Lightweight. And the governor sits in the sidelines.

debtsor
2 years ago
Reply to  jajujon

CPS parents don’t give a $hit about their kids, which is obvious from the fact that they put their children in CPS schools in the first place.

Pat S.
2 years ago
Reply to  debtsor

Some have no choice.

Indy
2 years ago
Reply to  Pat S.

Everyone has a choice.
That excuse doesn’t fly anymore.
Ukrainian mothers are fleeing by the millions with their kids & the clothes on their back. Yet in America we whine about having no choice even though there is no border fence or bombs being dropped on us.

Honest Jerk
2 years ago
Reply to  debtsor

Absolutely right. Life is about priorities. Making the choice to live in Chicago and send your kids to public school shows the kids are not a top priority. So sad.

Boscowama
2 years ago

If you still have your kids going to CPS schools, I feel sorry for you and your kids.

Marie
2 years ago
Reply to  Boscowama

I’ve always thought the problem was we spend way too much money on educatong children today and not enough money on educating their parents. Not all, but some of them had some lousy role models and don’t know how to raise their children. They dropped out of school they came from broken homes their parents were abusive or weren’t educated. Not good role models. We need to teach those parents how to be responsible, support and raise their children to be productive members of society. Why don’t we admit that and do it?

Honest Jerk
2 years ago
Reply to  Marie

Sounds complicated. Better to jail the fathers and give the mothers welfare.

debtsor
2 years ago
Reply to  Marie

How?

Waggs
2 years ago
Reply to  Marie

Those parents to whom you are referring also had parents who failed at their job of raising responsible, productive members of society. You suggest the schools should fix that problem, when the common denominator in both (or all three) generations was public schooling, especially the kind that has been hijacked by the extreme left progressives. The problem isn’t just public education, it’s government’s overarching need to ‘fix’ everything, in the most infficient way possible. My husband put it this way…. The “cans” have the will and the resources to help the “cants”, but not to help both the “cants” and… Read more »

Marie Gardner
2 years ago
Reply to  Waggs

I said some of those parents failed at raising their children because they had lousy role models that means they didn’t know how. I never suggested that the schools should fix the problem. I did suggest that some of the money given to schools should be given to re-educate some of those parents so they’d do a better job of raising their children. There’s enough money in the school budget to do that. I did suggest a solution to discuss. Anyone else have ideas?

Pat S.
2 years ago
Reply to  Marie Gardner

My question is: how many parents realize the crappy job they are doing?

How many are willing to put in the work to change their parenting approach?

Parenting classes and counseling are available.

When we became parents I was handed the paperback ‘How to Parent” by Fitzhugh Dodson. Read it and lived it – and it was definitely not the way we were raised.

We understood we had no idea what we were doing; the book helped tremendously. I wonder, how many parents of failing kids have ever read an ‘instruction’ manual?

Fed up neighbor
2 years ago
Reply to  Pat S.

🤙

ProzacPlease
2 years ago
Reply to  Pat S.

How many of those parents can read well enough to read an ‘instruction’ manual?

And therein lies the answer to what the schools can and must do to begin fixing the problem. Stop the woke curriculum and do the job you were hired to do- teach the basics so that kids have a chance. For too long they have focused on anything but, then act as if they have nothing to do with the ensuing problems.

Waggs
2 years ago
Reply to  Marie Gardner

There actually are programs in place (for sure at the elementary school level, most likely at the HS as well) in CPS designed to instruct and support parents, into being better parents, i.e. how-to help your kid with homework, nutrition classes, navigating the HS application process. You know who comes to them? Parents who care and are already doing an acceptable job. I can’t even get the parents to whom you are referring, to show up for one (forget two) 15-minute parent teacher conference in a year. I’m all for these programs and expanding them, but the first problem is… Read more »

Marie Gardner
2 years ago
Reply to  Waggs

This is why there is a problem because everyone wants to focus on what we can’t do instead of what we can do. Everyone thinks this whole situation is hopeless. We have faced and conquered many hopeless situations in this country. Why can’t we deal with this one. Where are your ideas? Where is your optimism why is it all that is written here is pessimism. People can get together and work on fixing this. I’m so disappointed in this dismissive attitude.

debtsor
2 years ago
Reply to  Marie Gardner

It’s difficult to help people who don’t want help.

Indy
2 years ago

Sending your kids to Chicago Public Schools is child abuse.
Simple as that.

Silverfox
2 years ago
Reply to  Indy

So true. I would urge all parents of CPS students to investigate private or parochial schools. Yes, there is a cost involved, but so many private schools will work with you to make a truly fine education possible for your children. You never know until you ask. And not all private /parochial schools are great either, so you have to do your homework. But a good private school education can be soooo worth it. Good luck !

nixit
2 years ago

While it states CPS will provide masks through August 2022, does the contract explicitly state how and if masks have to be worn? I’d imagine so, but it’s hard to track all these contract changes.

Admin
2 years ago
Reply to  nixit

The CTU says the safety agreement requires masks: https://www.ctulocal1.org/posts/despite-appellate-court-ruling-our-safety-agreement-with-cps-is-binding/ “One result of that deal was that CPS agreed to continue requiring masks in schools through August. But the Board of Education on Wednesday approved a resolution reaffirming that Martinez has the authority to “maintain or alter, modify or amend current COVID-19 mitigation measures in consultation with public health officials and other stakeholders.” Even so, the CTU maintains the city must bargain with it before making any changes. “Masks remain a critical layer of safety against a virus that continues to infect and cause deaths every day,” the CTU said in… Read more »

Pat S.
2 years ago
Reply to  John Klingner

If history is to be believed, CTU will use it as a bargaining chip to get something – perhaps pay for the four days they struck?

The CTU’s stranglehold on the children of Chicago is appalling. Bullies!

Fed up neighbor
2 years ago

Since when does a collective bargaining agreement between a union and staff affect children, this is absolutely terrible. Parents you better wake up it would be better to have Bot’s start teaching your kids.

Marie
2 years ago

Read the Illinois Right to Collective Bargaining Amendment that is going to be on the November 22 ballot. You Ain’t Seen Nothing Yet if it passes! Vote against it.

NB
2 years ago

Is CTU NOT ONLY only teacher union in Illinois with contractually negotiated covid rights/ plan but only teachers union in country with contractually negotiated covid rights/ plan? I’m sure if CTU agrees to lift masked mandated before August they won’t do so without asking for additional deals to their benefit in return. Thanks JB, thanks for keeping low income kids of color locked down to benefit your fake progressive pay-to-play teachers union public sec buddies.

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