Schools to Reopen in Chicago, Others Move Online
2022-01-12
LRC
TXT
大字
小字
滚动
全页
1Public school students in Chicago could return to classes Wednesday following an agreement between the city and the teachers' organization.
2A dispute over COVID-19 safety measures has kept students in the third-largest school system in the United States out of the classroom for five days.
3The agreement, announced late Monday, still requires approval from the city's 25,000 teachers.
4The deal included expanded COVID-19 testing and rules for when to close schools during outbreaks.
5And school officials told parents that classes for the 350,000 students would return on Wednesday.
6Cheri Warner is the mother of 15-year-old twins.
7She said the sudden loss of in-person learning has greatly impacted her family.
8The girls "missed their whole eighth-grade year and it felt like they weren't really prepared for high school," Warner said.
9Losing communication with friends and teachers makes things worse, she said.
10Last week, the Chicago Teachers Union, the organization representing the teachers, voted to move to online instruction.
11The organization said teachers were worried about safety measures during the latest increase of COVID infections.
12However, Chicago school officials, like most other school district officials, have rejected a return to remote learning.
13They said it worsened racial inequities and reduced attendance in the district of largely Black and Hispanic students.
14Officials said it affects academic performance and mental health.
15And they noted that schools could safely remain open with safety measures in place.
16Across the U.S., school districts have also faced similar concerns and issues.
17While most schools remain in-person, some large school districts have returned to online instruction as COVID-19 infections have greatly increased among students, teachers, and school workers.
18The large school systems with schools that have returned to remote learning include Newark, New Jersey; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Cleveland, Ohio.
19Smaller school districts close to Detroit, Chicago and Washington, D.C. have also switched to online.
20American President Joe Biden is pressing schools across the nation to remain open.
21With vaccines and regular virus testing, his administration has said there is no reason to keep schools closed.
22"Look, we have no reason to think at this point that Omicron is worse for children than previous variants," Biden said last week.
23"We know that our kids can be safe when in school."
24But the reality for some districts is not so simple.
25Testing supplies have been limited, and many districts have low vaccination rates in their communities.
26In Detroit, Michigan, just 44 percent of people 5 and older have received a vaccine shot.
27And the school system has moved to online learning for at least the first two weeks of 2022.
28Nikolai Vitti is the head of the Detroit school system.
29He wrote to parents that because of low vaccination rates among students and families,
30a return to the classroom would lead to "extreme levels of positive cases."
31Latonya Peterson has children attending Detroit public schools.
32She is a single parent who works more than 60 hours each week at two jobs.
33She sometimes had to miss work to help her teenage son during more than a year of online learning.
34Faced with the return to online classes, Peterson told The Associated Press, "I hate it."
35Her son Joshua Jackson added, "I feel like I learned less."
36He said it was more difficult for him to pay attention while remote learning.
37As infections reach record levels in some areas, some parents agree with the decision to move instruction online.
38Rebecca Caldwell is a parent in Charleston, Illinois.
39She is asking her school district to give families the choice of online learning.
40"They say kids do well (if infected), but who's to say my kid is not going to be that one," Caldwell said.
41I'm Dan Novak.
1Public school students in Chicago could return to classes Wednesday following an agreement between the city and the teachers' organization. 2A dispute over COVID-19 safety measures has kept students in the third-largest school system in the United States out of the classroom for five days. 3The agreement, announced late Monday, still requires approval from the city's 25,000 teachers. The deal included expanded COVID-19 testing and rules for when to close schools during outbreaks. And school officials told parents that classes for the 350,000 students would return on Wednesday. 4Cheri Warner is the mother of 15-year-old twins. She said the sudden loss of in-person learning has greatly impacted her family. 5The girls "missed their whole eighth-grade year and it felt like they weren't really prepared for high school," Warner said. Losing communication with friends and teachers makes things worse, she said. 6Last week, the Chicago Teachers Union, the organization representing the teachers, voted to move to online instruction. The organization said teachers were worried about safety measures during the latest increase of COVID infections. 7However, Chicago school officials, like most other school district officials, have rejected a return to remote learning. They said it worsened racial inequities and reduced attendance in the district of largely Black and Hispanic students. Officials said it affects academic performance and mental health. And they noted that schools could safely remain open with safety measures in place. 8Similar issues and concerns across the nation 9Across the U.S., school districts have also faced similar concerns and issues. 10While most schools remain in-person, some large school districts have returned to online instruction as COVID-19 infections have greatly increased among students, teachers, and school workers. 11The large school systems with schools that have returned to remote learning include Newark, New Jersey; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Cleveland, Ohio. Smaller school districts close to Detroit, Chicago and Washington, D.C. have also switched to online. 12American President Joe Biden is pressing schools across the nation to remain open. With vaccines and regular virus testing, his administration has said there is no reason to keep schools closed. 13"Look, we have no reason to think at this point that Omicron is worse for children than previous variants," Biden said last week. "We know that our kids can be safe when in school." 14But the reality for some districts is not so simple. Testing supplies have been limited, and many districts have low vaccination rates in their communities. 15In Detroit, Michigan, just 44 percent of people 5 and older have received a vaccine shot. And the school system has moved to online learning for at least the first two weeks of 2022. 16Nikolai Vitti is the head of the Detroit school system. He wrote to parents that because of low vaccination rates among students and families, a return to the classroom would lead to "extreme levels of positive cases." 17Latonya Peterson has children attending Detroit public schools. She is a single parent who works more than 60 hours each week at two jobs. She sometimes had to miss work to help her teenage son during more than a year of online learning. 18Faced with the return to online classes, Peterson told The Associated Press, "I hate it." 19Her son Joshua Jackson added, "I feel like I learned less." He said it was more difficult for him to pay attention while remote learning. 20As infections reach record levels in some areas, some parents agree with the decision to move instruction online. 21Rebecca Caldwell is a parent in Charleston, Illinois. She is asking her school district to give families the choice of online learning. 22"They say kids do well (if infected), but who's to say my kid is not going to be that one," Caldwell said. 23I'm Dan Novak. 24The Associated Press reported this story. Dan Novak adapted it for VOA Learning English. 25________________________________________________ 26Words in This Story 27grade - n. a level of study that is completed by a student during one year 28remote - adj. connected to a computer system from another place 29district - n. an area established by a government for official government business 30previous - adj. existing or happening before the present time 31variant - n. different in some way from others of the same kind