Chicago Mayor Lightfoot: ‘What the Chicago Teachers Union Did Was an Illegal Walkout’

Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot said Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the Chicago Teachers’ Union had their teachers take part in an “illegal walkout” by refusing to show up for in-person learning over fears of coronavirus.

Anchor Chuck Todd said, “Are kids going to be in school this week in Chicago?

Lightfoot said, “Well, I’m doing everything I can to make sure that happens. To be clear, what the Chicago teachers union did was an illegal walkout. They abandoned their posts and abandoned kids and their families. We’re working diligently every single day at the bargaining table to narrow the differences and get a deal done. Our team has been working every single day. They’re back at it again here Sunday. They were at it yesterday. We can get a deal done if there’s goodwill on both sides.”

She added, “But fundamentally, what we cannot do is abandon the science. We know that the safest place for kids to be is in the morning in schools, and we’ve spent millions hundreds of millions of dollars to make our schools safe. They are safe. We’ve got the data that demonstrate that we’ve got to get the teachers union to get real and get serious about getting back into in-person learning.”

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