The mayor extends the stay at home advisory

And cancels the CPS reopening plan? Nah.

A teacher told me she just bought her own PPE and all that she needs for her class. CPS certainly didn’t supply it.

She certainly didn’t get state of the art HEPA filtration and her classroom windows are bolted shut.

Buildings in various states of decrepitude (bathroom faucets not working—or even lead in school water, boilers spewing carbon dioxide, unopenable windows, mold) is an extremely common feature of the for-decades underfunded CPS. But during a COVID surge? These things take on a much grimmer aspect. CTU has been highlighting some of these COVID hazards in advance of school reopening.

But—just so you know—it’s not only CTU caterwauling about the CPS planned reopening. (I know that’s what you’re reading in the newspapers.)

46 Local School Councils have drafted unanimous resolutions against the reopening plan. Local School Councils are made up primarily of parents and community members.

And don’t forget that 36 of the city’s 50 aldermen have opposed the plan as well, and are holding a (probably pointless) hearing about it today.

Even the mayor is speaking out. She’s extended the city’s stay at home advisory until nearly the end of January because of a citywide 10.3% case positivity spike.

I’m so grateful Mayor Lightfoot is aware of the danger of reopening schools just now, as COVID surges in Chicago.

Oh hang on, scratch that. It’s the mayor’s plan to reopen the schools.

Although how she can welcome 77,000 kids and 2,100 teachers back to full-day classrooms is beyond my ability to understand—when city residents aren’t even allowed to host gatherings in their homes with more than “6 non-household members,” and city playgrounds are still closed.

I desperately hope I am wrong, but I don’t think this is going to go the way Mayor Lightfoot and Janice Jackson are hoping. CPS teachers haven’t been given adequate protection, buildings aren’t prepared, and many neighborhoods have more than 3 times the city’s target case positivity rate of 5%. The mayor and the CEO will bear the responsibility when COVID comes to CPS schools.

Follow me on twitter @Julie Vassilatos