Chicago Educators’ Demands for a Successful CPS Reopening

Amidst an ongoing global pandemic and fight against systemic racism, schools have a responsibility to reopen in a thoughtful and equitable manner. The decisions made by school districts will impact whether students feel welcomed and embraced, or dismissed and ignored. Educators are on the frontlines of school reopening and have become experts in leading a (virtual or in-person) classroom in a pandemic — it is essential we listen to them. To advocate for educators’ voices in the Chicago Public Schools’ reopening plans, E4E-Chicago gathered data from 60 survey responses and over 15 focus group and meeting participants. We asked open-ended questions about what went well in the past year ( (SY21) and what their top priorities are for school reopening this year (SY22).