The head of the Chicago Teachers Union is now calling Mayor Lori Lightfoot “relentlessly stupid” as hundreds of thousands of students are missing out on a fourth consecutive day of classes due to an ongoing dispute over coronavirus safety measures.
CTU President Jesse Sharkey made the comment Monday morning, nearly a week after his rank-and-file voted to switch to remote learning because of increasing coronavirus cases in the area. However, Chicago Public Schools is refusing to allow remote learning and instead has been canceling classes outright, while both sides remain locked in negotiations to bring students back into classrooms.
“We feel like we’re at a point where we don’t have enough at the table to be able to go back to the people who, frankly, have sacrificed a lot at this point, and confidently say, ‘This is something that can help us ensure our safety,” Sharkey said Monday. “The mayor is being relentless, but she’s being relentlessly stupid, she is being relentlessly stubborn.”
Chicago Teachers Union President Jesse Sharkey speaks ahead of a car caravan where teachers and supporters gathered to demand a safe and equitable return to in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in Chicago, Illinois on Dec. 12, 2020. ((Max Herman/NurPhoto via Getty Images))
“Fundamentally what we cannot do is abandon the science. We know that the safest place for kids to be is in-person learning in schools,” Lightfoot told host Chuck Todd. “And we’ve spent hundreds of millions of dollars to make our schools safe. They are safe. We’ve got the data to demonstrate that. We’ve got to get the teacher’s union to get real and get serious about getting back into in-person learning.”
Lightfoot’s office, Chicago Public Schools and the Chicago Teachers Union did not immediately respond to requests for comment from Fox News on the latest with negotiations and reactions to Sharkey’s remarks.
Fox News’ Adam Sabes and Danielle Wallace contributed to this report.
Greg Norman is a reporter at Fox News Digital.
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