From teachers strike to shutdown
Chicago Public Schools have had a very strange year
When Chicago Public Schools opened for the new year the day after Labor Day, it was clear teacher contract talks were breaking down and a strike was looming.
The walkout came to pass a few weeks later, but what was unimaginable then was that the coronavirus would render 201920 the most extraordinary school year on record in Chicago — and that the virus, unheard of when school started, would result in an unprecedented statewide shutdown.
“We never really got a chance to just get settled,” recent Harlan Community Academy graduate Dyshawn Pope said of his senior year. “It felt like we were rushing through it. It was just a lot.”
As CPS officially ended its school year Thursday, here’s a look back at how it shaped up, from picket lines to a pandemic:
Sept. 3: The school year opens under rainy skies and a more serious storm brewing: After months of negotiations, the Chicago Teachers Union has rejected a fact-finder’s recommendation — one Mayor Lori Lightfoot says the city will match — for 16% raises over a five-year deal, setting the clock for a possible strike. The union is holding out for 15% raises over three years, along with a range of other demands on staffing, class sizes and social services. CTU President Jesse Sharkey says the union is trying to make up for “nearly a decade of austerity and cuts.”
Lightfoot — who has said there is “no reason” there couldn’t be a deal before the start of school — joins CPS CEO Janice Jackson at the opening of Englewood STEM High School.
Sept. 12: After widespread failures in how CPS has addressed sexual misconduct in its schools, the district agrees to U.S. Department of Education oversight of extensive reforms. An official in Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ office calls the CPS track record “extraordinary and appalling.”
Sept. 24: The CTU kicks off a strike authorization vote with a rally featuring Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and actor John Cusack.
Sept. 26: After months of failed negotiations, CTU announces members have voted by a huge margin to authorize a strike.
Oct. 2: The CTU says its members — along with thousands of support staff and Park District workers — will strike in two weeks without contract deals.
Oct. 16: With no signs of a detente, CPS preemptively cancels school for the following day. Within a few hours, the CTU officially announces it is on strike.
Oct. 17: CTU’s 25,000 members walk off the job, affecting about 300,000 students. Schools remain open for child care and meals. Another 7,000 support staff, including custodians and special education and bus aides, also strike. That evening, famed civil rights leaders the Rev. Jesse Jackson sits in the evening’s negotiation sessions to try to help broker a deal.
Oct. 19: Both sides cite progress, but the angry rhetoric flies. Lightfoot insists there’s no more money for teachers. CTU accuses the mayor of failing to keep her campaign promises and says her office lacks the urgency to get a deal done.
Oct. 24: A group of CPS cross-country runners file a lawsuit seeking to participate in regional competition.
Oct. 26: After near-daily marathon talks, there are strong hopes heading into the weekend that a deal is near. But talks hit a snag for what a CPS official vaguely calls a “breach of trust” by the union.
Oct. 27: The Service Employees International Union, which represents support staff, reaches a tentative deal with CPS but asks its members to honor picket lines in solidarity with teachers.
Week of Oct. 28: Dreams for postseason play are dashed for virtually all CPS athletes. Despite the cancellation of sports during the strike, some teams still held out hope to participate in playoffs, but the Illinois High School Association confirms its rules forbid it. A judge has tossed out the cross-country runners’ suit.
Oct. 30: A tentative teachers contract deal is announced, and the union’s House of Delegates votes in favor of it. Among other wins for the union, the deal provides 16% raises for teachers, a class size enforcement mechanism and a nurse and social worker in every school.
But just when it appears the strike is over, an 11th-hour setback: Union leaders say the vote is contingent on making up all 11 school days lost to the walkout. The mayor angrily accuses the union of misleading her and remains adamant that there will be no makeup days.
Oct. 31: The mayor softens her stance on makeup days and says she’s willing to talk but won’t allow the union to “continue to … the move goal posts.” After a lengthy, tense, closed-door meeting at City Hall — and with throngs of protesters outside — Lightfoot announces the strike is over. The sides agree to make up five of the 11 strike days.
Nov. 1: Students, teachers and staff return to school.
Nov. 15: CTU announces that the new contract has been ratified, averting the prospect of the strike resuming.
January: Scandal erupts at Lincoln Park High School following the suspension of the boys basketball team and the removal of several leaders and coaches, including the firing of the interim principal and an assistant principal, after what officials call “multiple allegations of serious misconduct.” The following weeks see student walkouts, the launching of several internal investigations, a power struggle between CPS and the Local School Council and an eventual lawsuit by the two fired administrators.
March 6: A special education classroom aide at Vaughn Occupational High School in Portage Park becomes the sixth person in Illinois to be diagnosed with coronavirus. The school cancels classes through the following week and students and staff are asked to self-quarantine.
March 10: Even as some suburban and private schools close, city and school officials say there are still no plans for a districtwide shutdown.
March 13: Lightfoot reiterates she has no plans to close all city schools because of the coronavirus. But later that day, Gov. J.B. Pritzker overrides her and announces that all elementary and secondary schools in Illinois must shut their doors by March 17 and remain closed for the rest of the month.
March 15: CPS discloses a coronavirus case at Sheridan Math and Science Academy in Bridgeport and closes the building. Mansueto High School, a charter school, also announces a staff member tested positive for COVID-19 and that it is shutting down early.
March 17: The statewide school closure begins.
March 19: The mayor announces that CPS will remain closed through April 20, citing the “continued upward trajectory of the virus spread.”
March 25: CPS’s Board of Education votes to create a $75 million coronavirus emergency spending fund.
Late March: The school shutdown puts a spotlight on the digital divide in CPS: Officials say about one-third of students at district-run schools lack adequate internet access from home, and announce a plan to distribute more than 100,000 electronic devices to students.
March 31: Pritzker announces the statewide school closure will continue through April 30.
April 17: Pritzker announces that schools statewide will remain closed for the remainder of the school year.
May 27: CPS releases data on student participation in remote learning, revealing that, as of May 11, more than 2,200 students had no contact with teachers at all since the start of the pandemic, and another 15,000 still lacked digital access to remote learning.
Later that day, protesters, including many CPS students, take to the streets in Chicago, prompted by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis two days before. Protests continue over the next week and beyond — many calling for CPS to end its $33 million contract with the Chicago Police Department to provide resource officers in school buildings.
June 14: Oprah Winfrey gives the commencement address at a first-ever virtual citywide graduation ceremony.
June 18: The final day of classes is held for the school year. How school will look in the fall — and whether and how schools will reopen — remains uncertain.