“Cases of the new Omicron variant are spiking in Chicago and around the country,” the survey said. “It is imperative that we return from our winter break with a plan to ensure school communities’ and our own safety.”
The CTU asked members to answer the survey to “help guide the CTU’s response to CPS’s [Chicago Public Schools] inadequate pandemic response.”
It asks a number of questions, including if members believe there has been adequate testing for COVID-19 at schools or workplaces for students and staff.
The poll asks members to rank on a scale of one to four how effective and responsive their school or workplace has been in implementing mitigation efforts, including contact tracing or case communication, classroom quarantines, and flipping to remote learning if there has been a COVID-19 outbreak.
“If COVID continues to dangerously accelerate or should staffing levels in our schools drop to unsafe levels, would you support a district-wide pause and temporary shift to remote learning?” the survey asks.
It also asks members what actions they would participate in to force CPS to “improve its COVID safety measures.” These include convening a meeting of the school safety committee on Jan. 3, flyer parents at the school or workplace “in a socially distant, masked manner outdoors or via remote meeting.”
The survey also asks if CTU members would “participate in an action at your school, e.g. a neighborhood car caravan,” or “participate in a city-wide action like a car caravan or outdoor rally, participate in a city-wide work stoppage.”
“I implore you to direct your CPS team to collaborate with us over the next week and a half to ensure that our schools can reopen safely on January 3,” said Sharkey. “We, too, want to be in our classrooms with our students this January – and we want to do so safely, with guardrails in place that protect us all. Anything less will cause unnecessary harm, and that is simply unacceptable.”
The Epoch Times has contacted Lightfoot and CPS for comment.