Chicago Public Schools cancels classes for fourth consecutive day over union's Covid stance

Classes in Chicago Public Schools were canceled for the fourth consecutive day Monday amid the standoff between the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) over Covid-19 protocols.

Negotiations continued over the weekend without reaching an agreement, reports ABC Chicago. 

The union proposed that teachers return to their school buildings this week to hand out digital devices and sign students up for Covid-19 testing in order to start remote learning on Wednesday.

Teachers said they want to be in school but believe the district needs to ramp up testing.

The CTU's proposal also calls for randomly testing at least 10% of students and staff every week at every school.

The proposal also would require the school system to pause in-person learning for 14 days and transition to remote instruction citywide if the Covid-19 test positivity rate in Chicago increases for seven consecutive days.

CTU members also want any school with 25% or more of its staff out because of Covid-19 cases or exposures for two consecutive days to transition to remote learning.