Chicago Public School students protest in-person learning with district-wide walkout

CHICAGO (CN) — Hundreds of Chicago high school students gathered in front of the Chicago Public School District's central offices Friday afternoon, after staging a walkout in protest of the district's resumption of in-person learning. The students demanded better pandemic safety in schools, citing the ongoing Covid-19 surge in Chicago. Many said they wanted to return to remote learning.

"We need to be remote," one Harlan High School student said, reporting sick absences and a lack of social distancing in classrooms. "I need online school because I don't want to die."

The rally and walkout were planned by Chi-RADS, a student anti-capitalist activism group. Prior to Friday, the group also demanded that students have a seat at the bargaining table between CPS and the Chicago Teachers Union in disputes over pandemic safety in schools. While officially non-partisan, the group is more aligned with the CTU than CPS — some CTU members actually helped Chi-RADS spread word of the walkout. The group has had particular criticism for district CEO Pedro Martinez and Chicago Department of Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady.

"End your use of performative language when attempting to fulfill the mayor's political agenda. In order to genuinely take into account the best interest of students, ask us directly or include us in conversations," Chi-RADS demanded of Martinez and Arwady on Jan. 6, shortly after the CTU began its week-long labor action of refusing to resume in-person learning.

Since the start of 2022, there have been similar walkouts by high school students in New York and Oakland. In Chicago, the students rallying in front of the CPS headquarters said they're tired of being talked over by adults who don't share their experiences, and fed up with institutions which they say prioritize the city's economy over their health and safety.

During the CTU's week-long labor action bucking the district's plan to return to in-person teaching, Mayor Lori Lightfoot was adamant that school was the safest place for students to be. She repeatedly insisted, alongside CEO Martinez, that the city's schools were prepared to handle the ongoing surge.

"Our schools are safe and that is the best place for our children to be," Lightfoot said on Wednesday, Jan. 5.

Many teachers and students disagreed, reporting absent staff and students, little safety equipment and unsanitary conditions when the CTU ended its labor action and in-person learning resumed on Wednesday. One student from the Chicago's high-ranking Ogden International School said Lightfoot, who is currently out sick with Covid herself and whose daughter attends private school, is sacrificing students' well-being for political points as the city prepares for the 2023 mayoral election.

"She's playing with our lives for a political message, and I think that's disgusting," the student said.

The Chicago Public Health Department's own Covid-19 numbers also undercut Lightfoot's insistence that school are the safest place for students during a pandemic. During the first week of the 2022 school term, both Covid cases and deaths peaked on Monday, Jan. 3 and Tuesday, Jan. 4, the only two days public school students were in classrooms. Cases in people younger than 18 represented the largest share of the new case load, with the city averaging over 1,000 new child cases per day.

Cases and deaths dropped by more than half on Wednesday, the first day the CTU began its remote-only labor action. They have since continued to steadily decline.

But student safety wasn't Lightfoot's only concern in wanting the school board to re-open the city's schools. At a press conference held on Jan. 10, when the school district reached an agreement with the CTU, she emphasized the economic toll she believed not re-opening schools would take on the city's residents

"When we were all remote before parents and guardians lost their jobs because they were having to monitor their children at home... switching completely back to remote learning again without a public health reason to do so would have created and amplified the social, emotional, and economic turmoil that far too many of our children are facing," Lightfoot said.

But the students at Friday's rally were having none of it.

Lightfoot was a particular focus of their ire; armed with megaphones, they started multiple chants of "Fuck Lori Lightfoot," "Hey hey, ho ho, Lori Lightfoot has got to go," and even "Lori Lightfoot, shut the fuck up!"

After the rally ended Friday, CPS put out a statement praising the students for their activism.

“CPS remains committed to fostering learning environments that allow students to respectfully deliberate issues with evidence and an open mind – and safely participate in civic action,” the statement read. “It is appropriate in classes or special school events to create an environment where students of all viewpoints feel that they can express themselves in a safe and respectful environment.” 

Despite the statement, students of at least one CPS high school, Bogan High, reported staff and security blocking exits and threatening retaliation for any students who took part in the walkout.

“They told the seniors they would get prom taken away and their taking a special attendance to see who walked out or not. I am so mad,” one Bogan student wrote.

In its own statement the CTU released Wednesday after its members ratified its tentative agreement with CPS, CTU president Jesse Sharkey said the union would continue to advocate for the health and safety of students and staff. The agreement the union reached with the school district expires in August. Agreeing on a new deal will likely require even more debate between the two organizations, especially as Covid-19 becomes endemic in the U.S.

Chi-RADS and the students it represents told the city's adults Friday that they demand a seat at that debate.

"I want to do whatever's safest for myself, my classmates and my school," the student from Ogden International said.

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