Vallas Wants to Open Schools
Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas speaks at a 2014 news conference as Lt. Governor nominee for then-Governor Pat Quinn. Vallas is calling for state action to re-open schools around the state for in-person learning.
When the Coronavirus pandemic hit, shutting down government and private businesses alike, in return sending the economy into a tailspin, schools around the state hastily transitioned to remote learning.
Now, roughly 9 months after the pandemic hit, many schools around the state remain closed to in-person learning. Former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas, a former Democratic candidate for Governor and Lieutenant Governor, as well as a 2019 candidate for Chicago Mayor, says schools should have been open already.
“Schools should have been re-opened. By May, it was pretty much determined that schools posed minimal risk for children,” Vallas said. “That children were least likely to suffer seriously from the pandemic and that children were least likely to be contagious.”
Vallas says continuing to keep students in remote learning has stunted development and forced many students, especially those in low-income households, to fall hopelessly behind.
He also claims the continued virtual learning has negatively impacted low-income families. Vallas claims an increase in unemployment happened in August and September because too many low-income parents were forced to stay home for remote learning.
Vallas says the CARES Act, passed last spring, and the recent federal stimulus package have produced $900 million in additional funding for Chicago Public Schools alone and hundreds of millions more for schools around the state. He says that’s more than enough money to make sure schools are safe.
Who is to blame for continued school closures? For Vallas, it’s teachers’ unions.
“It’s just the unions, many of the national teachers’ unions, trying to exploit the situation to for the convenience of their members and to maximize and put pressure on state and federal governments to provide more funding,” he said.
“I’m sure the majority of the rank-and-file teachers in the teachers’ unions want to get back to their classrooms, but I believe there’s a strong, large block of union members who do not,” Vallas said. “The unions are trying to accommodate them.”
But Illinois Education Association President Kathi Griffin says unions aren’t opposed to in person learning.
“As we have said all along, we are not against in-person learning,” Griffin said in a statement to The Illinoize. “We are, however, extremely opposed to unsafe learning. We need the legislature to help our school districts navigate the pandemic and to help us keep our students safe in our schools. That’s why we’re asking lawmakers to step in and set up clear, enforceable COVID-19 metrics that have been put forth by the Illinois Department of Public Health, for school districts to use when determining whether or not school buildings should be open.”
Vallas says even without additional legislation the success of parochial schools around the state to accomplish in-person learning should be a model for public schools around the state.
Griffin says the opposition to enforcement of Governor JB Pritzker’s executive orders show there need to be enforceable standards.
“Some districts aren’t following their own plans, some districts aren’t following the state’s guidance, [and some] local health departments aren’t following the guidance from the Illinois Department of Public Health to work with school districts to determine whether students should go remote or put new protocols in place,” she said. “In some cases, local school boards are overriding the best advice of school superintendents. We need to fix these issues so that our students and staff are safe when they are in our school buildings. If we can get these measures passed, it will give communities the tools they need to help regulate themselves.”
Vallas was also critical of Governor JB Pritzker, saying has failed to take control of the issue, instead deferring to local districts.
“There’s no reason, no justification to keep schools closed,” he said.
