Two members of the tyrannical Chicago Teachers Union said they are “proud” of their fight to delay students’ return to school following a surge in the omicron variant of Covid-19.
“We’re proud of the action that we’re taking,” Ana, a Chicago Public Schools teacher and CTU member, said on “The Real News Podcast” last week (the program provided no last name for her). “We’re also disgusted that we have to take it because we have city leaders who just really don’t care about our health.”
Ana said she loves her union but loves “sticking it to the boss” even more.
“I get really hyped up with this sort of thing like, when we fight we win for sure,” she said. “…This all reminds me of last year, like how much energy we put into fighting. We did get results and we’re gonna get even better results this time because it’s the whole union fighting at once.”
Quetzalli Castro, a CPS teacher and a delegate and organizer in the CTU, claimed the union’s demands for testing and vaccination need to be met because teachers are burnt out and need to be prioritized.
“The burnout for teachers is real. And it’s frustrating because, like, as a teacher, like, I’m so passionate about teaching my children. I really care about giving them the best education that they can get, but at what point am I supposed to pick me, right? And my health and my well-being?” Castro asked.
Both teachers snubbed the data about the mild effects of omicron and Covid-19 on kids and claimed that with “proper funding” and preventative tools, they could stop the spread of the virus in schools. They also accused Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot of conspiring against educators.
“I think it’s not a coincidence that educators have been, for like hundreds of years at this point, the scapegoats for all of society’s moral and economic failures because it is one of the very few jobs or occupations that is majority women-led,” Ana said. “Like, nobody is giving businessmen problems for working remotely and making like so much money for doing, not a lot, honestly.”
The teachers both expressed the desire to teach remotely until it was “safe” again to teach in person despite the fact that most schools have operated in-person for more than a year now.
“We’re talking about closing in-person working. Remote learning is something that is totally possible. It is something that we have pulled off and we’ve learned about,” Castro said after explaining that she turned down the offer to teach remotely when she tested positive for Covid-19 and chose to not teach at all.
“We are currently seeking this remote work activity or choosing to work from home because we understand that our working conditions, and those are student learning conditions, are not currently safe,” Castro claimed.
The teachers also criticized “capitalists” who put work before safety and Castro accused the administration of CPS of being “privileged” and “out of touch with everyday people, with working-class people.”
If CPS and Lightfoot don’t agree to the CTU’s demands, educators plan to keep students out of school for two weeks, until Jan. 18, to stick it to the administration. Already, teachers who refuse to show up for class have kept CPS students out of school for four days.
Even the Biden administration decided to contradict its longstanding allegiance to the teachers’ unions and urge a swift return to classroom learning. Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona said last week that any learning short of in-person is not acceptable for students who have “suffered enough.”
“Our expectation is for schools to be open full-time for students for in-person learning,” Cardona said on Fox News Sunday, citing scientific data about low Covid transmission among school-age children. “There’s a level of urgency that we shouldn’t lose around making sure that our children learn in person.”
This is a sharp turnaround from the administration’s previous fear-induced position that schools should be closed until it is “safe” for students to return.
