After a deal on COVID safety, Chicago public schools open for in-person classes

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After a deal on COVID safety, Chicago public schools open for in-person classes

Transcript¹

NPR's Steve Inskeep talks with Stacey Davis Gates, vice² president of the Chicago Teachers Union, about the return to in-person learning in the city — following disagreements over COVID-19 safety.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The Biden administration says it's going to send out an additional 10 million COVID tests for schools each month, which they need. If anybody in your family is going to school, you know there's an awful lot of testing going on in an awful lot of schools. Students in Chicago are finally going back to in-person learning today after five days of canceled classes. The teachers union and city officials had been in a stalemate over COVID safety, and though they now have a deal with a final vote by union members today, there may still be some issues. So we've called Stacy Davis Gates, the vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union, who joins us via Skype. Good morning.

STACY DAVIS GATES: Good morning.

INSKEEP: Are students and teachers safer than you think they would have been a week ago?

DAVIS GATES: Well, I think students and teachers have better safeguards in place. I think that there are accountability mechanisms⁴ in place with the agreement. We found that the plan the city gave us, it just didn't have anything. We literally⁵ had a five-day work action because we didn't have face coverings.

INSKEEP: You didn't have face coverings. There were not sufficient - what? - N95 masks? Is that what you were looking for?

DAVIS GATES: That's exactly right. N95 masks were not available to members or students. They are now. We have enhanced protections with our safety committee. Contact tracing will be anchored at the local school level. We found that notifications and clarity around who had what was not being done well enough because it was too decentralized. We also have a mechanism³ now that triggers a school or a classroom to be shut down because there's too much COVID and/or the lack of staffing in the school community.

INSKEEP: Without getting into all the details, because I would imagine it's as complicated in Chicago as it is in the schools that my kids are attending, are Chicago schools in a position to test all the teachers and students on a regular basis, and how regular will it be?

DAVIS GATES: Well, I think we have expanded testing. The difficulty here was getting to - getting the mayor and the city to agree to an opt⁶-out clause where students would be able to be tested. And if they weren't, the parents would opt out. Around the country, you have a bigger pool of people to be tested if you do so. That didn't happen. So as a result of disagreement, the school district yesterday called parents and received verbal consent from families, and they will be doing so all week.

INSKEEP: I think what you're saying by the opt-out is that it's presumed that it is OK to test the kid unless the parent calls up and says - actively⁷ says, don't test my kid. Is that right?

DAVIS GATES: That is exactly right. And we found that in school districts here in the state and around Chicagoland, you have a larger pool of students to test from with that mechanism.

INSKEEP: Stacy Davis Gates, can you just address the way that the Chicago schools' shutdown played into the larger debate about schools? There has been a degree of resentment⁸ among parents toward teachers, just to give one example of the way resentment has flowed in different ways. To what extent would you defend the teachers unions' course here, and to what extent would you defend teachers who have perhaps been more insistent⁹ than other people in society might like about keeping schools closed when they feel it's not safe for them?

DAVIS GATES: Well, I don't think it is an issue of defense¹⁰ as much as it's an issue of reality. In reality, many of our school communities do not have the necessary mitigations implemented¹¹ and monitored to keep it safe for everyone that's there. I would think, as a mom of three myself, that it is important for the folks who are entrusted¹² with the care of my children to tell me what's happening in the school community, to have me on alert to understand what the impacts are in the school community because my children come home. And when they come home, they bring with them whatever they received in school. I think it was very brave of the teachers here in Chicago and, quite frankly¹³, the teachers nationwide who are pushing back on this narrative¹⁴ that they're expendable. They're not expendable. They are asking for basic protections to keep schools stable and to keep people safe.

INSKEEP: Just a few seconds left. But do you want to respond to a bit of news we got? Mayor Lori Lightfoot, who has battled with the union, I know, on some issues, tested positive for COVID yesterday.

DAVIS GATES: Look; I wish her the best - a fast and speedy recovery. Look; COVID is an insidious¹⁵, contagious¹⁶ virus that has impacted, you know, tons of Americans.

INSKEEP: Stacy Davis Gates, vice president of the Chicago Teachers Union, thank you so much.

DAVIS GATES: Thank you.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

3 mechanism   

n.机械装置；机构，结构

参考例句：

• The bones and muscles are parts of the mechanism of the body.骨骼和肌肉是人体的组成部件。
• The mechanism of the machine is very complicated.这台机器的结构是非常复杂的。

4 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms. 这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

6 opt   

vi.选择，决定做某事

参考例句：

• They opt for more holiday instead of more pay.他们选择了延长假期而不是增加工资。
• Will individual schools be given the right to opt out of the local school authority?各个学校可能有权选择退出地方教育局吗？

7 actively   

adv.积极地，勤奋地

参考例句：

• During this period all the students were actively participating.在这节课中所有的学生都积极参加。
• We are actively intervening to settle a quarrel.我们正在积极调解争执。

8 resentment   

n.怨愤，忿恨

参考例句：

• All her feelings of resentment just came pouring out.她一股脑儿倾吐出所有的怨恨。
• She cherished a deep resentment under the rose towards her employer.她暗中对她的雇主怀恨在心。

9 insistent   

adj.迫切的，坚持的

参考例句：

• There was an insistent knock on my door.我听到一阵急促的敲门声。
• He is most insistent on this point.他在这点上很坚持。

10 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

11 implemented   

v.实现( implement的过去式和过去分词 )；执行；贯彻；使生效

参考例句：

• This agreement, if not implemented, is a mere scrap of paper. 这个协定如不执行只不过是一纸空文。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• The economy is in danger of collapse unless far-reaching reforms are implemented. 如果不实施影响深远的改革，经济就面临崩溃的危险。 来自辞典例句

12 entrusted   

v.委托，托付( entrust的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He entrusted the task to his nephew. 他把这任务托付给了他的侄儿。
• She was entrusted with the direction of the project. 她受委托负责这项计划。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 frankly   

adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说

参考例句：

• To speak frankly, I don't like the idea at all.老实说，我一点也不赞成这个主意。
• Frankly speaking, I'm not opposed to reform.坦率地说，我不反对改革。

14 narrative   

n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的

参考例句：

• He was a writer of great narrative power.他是一位颇有记述能力的作家。
• Neither author was very strong on narrative.两个作者都不是很善于讲故事。

15 insidious   

adj.阴险的，隐匿的，暗中为害的，（疾病）不知不觉之间加剧

参考例句：

• That insidious man bad-mouthed me to almost everyone else.那个阴险的家伙几乎见人便说我的坏话。
• Organized crime has an insidious influence on all who come into contact with it.所有和集团犯罪有关的人都会不知不觉地受坏影响。

16 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。