Chicago Teacher’s Leave

On+January+5th%2C+more+than+300%2C000+teachers+missed+school+to+protest+against+not+going+virtual.

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On January 5th, more than 300,000 teachers missed school to protest against not going virtual.

Abigail B., Writer

On Wednesday January 5, 2022 Chicago teachers decided not to go to work. More than 340,000 teachers went against their district’s wishes. They decided they would rather teach digitally instead of in person due to the new Covid spike due to the Omicron variant. District officials said they would update the plan for in-person learning by the end of the day on Wednesday in hopes of bringing their teachers back on campus. Even though school was canceled, teachers attempted logging on to their digital learning platforms, only to discover that they had been logged out. CTU President Jesse Sharky said the city of Chicago has “failed to deliver a whole number of basic demands that we need in the schools, has failed to provide adequate staffing, adequate cleaning in the schools, has failed to provide adequate testing, has failed to address our concerns as people going to the schools.” These teachers will not be compensated for their time away from the classroom. Will this get the teachers back in school? Or will digital learning become a reality once again?