With Sunday set up to be a pivotal day in negotiations, the two sides did not even meet, according to a source close to the talks.
Officials with Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union have failed to reach an agreement over how and when to reopen schools, setting the stage for teacher lockouts and a subsequent strike that would halt classes for 290,000 students this week. With Sunday set up to be a pivotal day in negotiations ahead of the planned return of up to 65,000 students to classrooms Monday, the two sides did not even meet, according to a source close to the talks. In a sign of the spiraling situation, CPS and CTU could not publicly agree why there were no negotiations. CTU Vice President Stacy Davis Gates wrote on Twitter that “CPS said the only way they’d attend bargaining was if we were offering major concessions.” The district said in its own tweet that “our bargaining team was told by CTU leadership that they were unavailable to meet until they could develop a response to our most recent offer. Our team has been standing by all day.” Mayor Lori Lightfoot and schools chief Janice Jackson are scheduled to host a 5:15 p.m. news conference. District representatives told principals in meetings Sunday afternoon that all preschool through eighth grade teachers will be required to report to schools Monday, a source said. Teachers who don’t show up will be locked out of remote work. Students will be asked to stay home Monday. The CTU has said its members plan to continue teaching from home until an agreement is reached, and the union expects to strike if its members are locked out of remote work. The two sides had hoped to break their impasse after several verbal agreements turned into written ones Saturday. CPS and CTU had said bargaining was productive at the start of the weekend after pointed comments from Mayor Lori Lightfoot on Friday night threatened to derail progress. Appearing on CBS’ “Face the Nation” Sunday morning, CPS CEO Jackson reiterated the district’s “goal is to reopen schools as planned tomorrow on Feb.1, for students in our K through eight grades.” Asked what happens if no deal is reached by Monday and teachers don’t show up to schools, Jackson said, “The goal right now is to get a resolution.” “CTU has made it clear that they want a deal,” she said. “We share those same sentiments. But we’re still far apart on a couple of key issues, such as vaccination and how we account for accommodations.
