The Chicago Teachers Union held a car caravan Wednesday morning to protest the hybrid learning model proposed by Chicago Public Schools in the fall.
That plan would mean a mix of remote learning and in-person courses.
The caravan began circling around a charter school in the city's Lincoln Park neighborhood around 9 a.m. They then traveled to Chicago Public Headquarters in the loop, while the Board of Education held their weekly virtual meeting.
According to CTU leaders, the District's hybrid school plan "falls short on safety." Leaders said CPS has not put enough money into cleaning and janitorial improvements.
“Providing us 40,000 tubs of sanitizing wipes? So I get two tubs of wipes? That might get me through a few lunch periods," Erin Lynch, an art and special education teacher at CPS, said. "We ask that CPS finally put students' and staff's safety and health first."
CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates said that city officials appear to care more about protecting bar patrons and fitness enthusiasts. She added that Friday’s restrictive action on those businesses is more stringent than this September’s plan for pods of 15 kids.
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“You see the heat maps of cases. Our positivity rate is going up in Illinois -- no playgrounds, no indoor dining. We have that and yet we are talking about opening schools in this moment? It just seems completely upside down," Gates said.
