UPDATE***
Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot demanded city teachers return to public schools Thursday after union leaders blocked any potential negotiations; saying it’s time for kids to “return to the schools.”
“We are failing those children by not giving them the option to return to school!” said the Mayor.
"We are failing those children by not giving them the option to return to school!
Failing grades, depression, isolation, and so much more… our children cannot afford to wait any longer."@LoriLightfoot tells @CTULocal1 that she wants a deal "now, without further delay." pic.twitter.com/m4Ln5ZN62Q
— Washington Examiner (@dcexaminer) February 4, 2021
From Fox News:
K-8 students in Chicago’s Public Schools have now lost what was supposed to be the first week back for in-person learning, as the district and its teachers union remain locked in a dispute over a safe reopening plan during the coronavirus pandemic.
Chicago Public Schools (CPS) — for the sixth time in a little over a week — has instructed parents to keep their children home for remote learning Thursday. Friday, on the district’s calendar, is a “school improvement day” for teachers and staff that students had already been given off.
“We are disappointed to report that at this time, no deal has been reached between CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union leadership,” the district wrote on its Facebook page late Wednesday night, adding that it is extending a “cooling off period for the final time through the end of the day on Thursday to allow for further negotiations.”
Chicago Public Schools initially planned for its K-8 students to return for two days a week of in-person learning starting Monday, Feb. 1, but has not been able to welcome them back yet because of the ongoing dispute. The Chicago Teachers Union, for the time being, has been asking its members to continue teaching remotely.
The Union, in its own update Wednesday, said that “CPS continues to reject using CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] health metrics, refuses to allow educators with medically vulnerable household members to continue to teach remotely — even though most of the District’s Black and Latinx students will remain remote — and refuses to make improvements in remote learning, despite months of pleas from parents, students and educators.”
Read the full report here.
CHICAGO SPIRALS: 100 People Arrested, 13 Police Injured as Looters Target Windy City’s Tourism District
More than 100 people were arrested overnight Monday and at least 13 officers were injured as hundreds of looters targeted shops in Chicago’s downtown tourism district.
“This was straight up, felony criminal conduct,” said Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot. “This was an assault on our city.”
“Those arrested were expected to face charges including looting, disorderly conduct, battery against police. Lightfoot said that the city has activated a neighborhood protection program,” reports the Associated Press. “The unrest began shortly after midnight and anti-police graffiti was seen in the area of the Magnificent Mile, which is one of Chicago’s most-visited tourist attractions. Hours earlier, dozens of people had faced off with police after officers shot and wounded a person Sunday in the Englewood neighborhood, located about 10 miles (16 kilometers) away.”
Bridges raised in Chicago to prevent downtown access after widespread looting breaks out https://t.co/g8x1YPpW4G pic.twitter.com/lLeVPubknE
— The Hill (@thehill) August 10, 2020
🚨 “LOOTING AND CHAOS” 🚨
Do you feel safer with radical Democrats are in charge? https://t.co/W7XcGw3dRM— Marc Lotter (@marc_lotter) August 10, 2020
Read the full report here.
CHICAGO SPIRALS: 13 People Shot, 3 Murdered Within 24 Hours in the Windy City
The plague of gun violence sweeping Chicago sadly continued this week when 13 people were shot and three murdered within a 24 hour period in the nation’s third largest city.
“Thirteen people were shot, three of them fatally, Wednesday in Chicago. One woman was killed and another was wounded in South Shore in the day’s latest fatal attack. About 8:50 p.m., they were in the 7800 block of South Cornell Avenue when they heard shots and felt pain, Chicago police said,” reports the Chicago Sun Times.
A day earlier, 15 people were shot and 2 killed.
“A 28-year-old was struck in the head and taken to the University of Chicago Medical Center, where she died, police said. The other woman, 35, was shot in the foot and refused medical treatment, police said,” adds the newspaper. “Wednesday afternoon, a man was killed in Lawndale on the West Side.”
Mayor Lori Lightfoot routinely blames her city’s gun violence on neighboring states and the Trump administration; claiming the President has “no interest” in protecting Chicago residents.
Read the full report here.