Schools to Reopen in Chicago, Others Move Online

Schools to Reopen in Chicago, Others Move Online

Public school students in Chicago could return to classes Wednesday following an agreement between the city and the teachers' organization.

A dispute¹ 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.

The agreement, announced late Monday, still requires approval² 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.

Cheri Warner is the mother of 15-year-old twins. She said the sudden loss of in-person learning³ has greatly impacted⁴ her family.

The 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.

Last 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.

However, Chicago school officials, like most other school district officials, have rejected a return to remote learning. They said it worsened racial inequities and reduced attendance⁵ in the district of largely⁶ Black and Hispanic students. Officials said it affects academic performance and mental health. And they noted⁷ that schools could safely remain open with safety measures in place.

Similar issues and concerns across the nation

Across the U.S., school districts have also faced similar concerns and issues.

While 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.

The large school systems with schools that have returned to remote learning include Newark, New Jersey⁸; Milwaukee, Wisconsin; and Cleveland, Ohio. Smaller school districts close to Detroit, Chicago and Washington, D.C. have also switched to online.

American President Joe Biden is pressing schools across the nation to remain open. With vaccines¹⁰ and regular virus testing, his administration¹¹ has said there is no reason to keep schools closed.

"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."

But the reality for some districts is not so simple. Testing supplies have been limited, and many districts have low vaccination¹³ rates in their communities.

In Detroit, Michigan, just 44 percent of people 5 and older have received a vaccine⁹ shot. And the school system has moved to online learning for at least the first two weeks of 2022.

Nikolai 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."

Latonya Peterson has children attending Detroit public schools. She is a single parent who works¹⁴ 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.

Faced with the return to online classes, Peterson told The Associated Press, "I hate it."

Her son Joshua Jackson added, "I feel like I learned¹⁵ less." He said it was more difficult for him to pay attention while remote learning.

As infections reach record levels in some areas, some parents agree with the decision to move instruction online.

Rebecca Caldwell is a parent in Charleston, Illinois. She is asking her school district to give families the choice of online learning.

"They say kids do well (if infected), but who's to say my kid is not going to be that one," Caldwell said.

Words in This Story

grade — n. a level of study that is completed by a student during one year

remote — adj. connected to a computer system from another place

district — n. an area established by a government for official government business

previous — adj. existing or happening before the present time

variant¹² — n. different in some way from others of the same kind

1 dispute   

n.争端，分歧；v.争论，争吵，辩论，辩驳

参考例句：

• They are trying to find a way of settling the dispute.他们正设法寻找解决争端的办法。
• The parties to the dispute should be more polite to each other.争执双方应相互礼貌些。

2 approval   

n.赞成，同意；批准，认可

参考例句：

• The audience has expressed its approval.观众已经认可。
• The teacher signed his approval.老师做了手势表示同意。

3 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

4 impacted   

压紧的，结实的； 冲击式

参考例句：

• 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。
• The ground had been impacted by many people walking across it. 因为走的人多，地面被踏得坚实了。

5 attendance   

n.出席，出席人数，护理，照料

参考例句：

• The attendance of this class never dropped off.这个班的出席人数从未下降。
• The young man danced attendance on his rich aunt.这个年轻人小心侍候他有钱的姑妈。

6 largely   

adv.大部分，主要地

参考例句：

• It is largely dependent on the weather.这多半取决于天气情况。
• Their conclusions were largely founded on guesswork.他们的结论大部份基于猜测。

7 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

8 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

9 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

10 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

11 administration   

n.经营，管理；行政，行政机关，管理部门

参考例句：

• Who is in charge of the administration of your company?你们公司的行政工作由谁负责？
• The teachers are responsible to the school administration.教师向学校行政负责。

12 variant   

adj.不同的，变异的；n.变体，异体

参考例句：

• We give professional suggestions according to variant tanning stages for each customer.我们针对每位顾客不同的日晒阶段，提供强度适合的晒黑建议。
• In a variant of this approach,the tests are data- driven.这个方法的一个变种，是数据驱动的测试。

13 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

14 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

15 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。