Chicago schools will resume face-to-face classes on Wednesday under a tentative agreement between authorities and the teachers union, after a four-day strike in the nation's third-largest school district.
Negotiations between the school district and the union had stalled over differences over coronavirus safety protocols, The Associated Press news agency reported.
The agreement, which has yet to be ratified in a vote by the union's 25,000 teachers, states that
students will return to classrooms on Wednesday
, the day after the teachers return.
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Neither party has disclosed further details of the pact.
Among the points to be negotiated were
the parameters to order the closure of schools in the event of COVID-19 outbreaks
, as well as an expansion of diagnostic tests.
Cheri Warner (left), accompanied by her daughter Brea, ask the Chicago school district and the teachers union to return students to classrooms, Monday, January 10, 2022, in Chicago.Charles Rex Arbogast / AP
Last week, the union voted to resume distance learning and asked teachers not to show up for face-to-face classes at their schools while negotiations continued.
School district officials argued that schools are safe
and that resuming remote teaching was not a good option, thus preventing teachers from accessing online classroom systems.
Families had a hard time adjusting to distance classes just two days after the students returned from winter break.
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"We know this has been very difficult for students and their families," Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot told a news conference Monday night.
"Nobody wins when students are not in class," he added.
Teachers had accused the mayor of being "relentlessly stubborn" and failing to back down in negotiations.
"He is relentlessly refusing to come to an agreement and we are trying to find a way to get people back to school," the union said.
Despite the rhetoric that had grown more combative as the days passed, Lightfoot was optimistic on Monday about the latest proposal he presented.
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Amid a national spike in COVID-19 cases,
Chicago teachers wanted the option to distance teach the district's nearly 350,000 students
, who are mostly members of the Latino and black community.
However, Chicago leaders rejected it being an option that was taught to the entire district remotely, leading to a work stoppage.
More than 5,000 parents signed a petition to bring learning back to the classroom.
The school authorities explained that
more than 100 million dollars have been invested in a safety plan,
which includes air purifiers in each classroom.
In addition, they indicate that 91% of the personnel are vaccinated and that the use of the mask is required in closed spaces.
