If Chicago’s public schools open for in-person instruction this fall, parents should also have the option to choose remote learning — and any plans to reopen must be rooted in scientific metrics and advice from health professionals.
Those are key recommendations for returning to school buildings from a new report by Raise Your Hand for Illinois Public Education, a parent advocacy group, which surveyed more than 1,300 parents in recent weeks. Overall, the report said, parents want the district to exercise “extreme caution” before reopening schools.
In the report released Thursday, the group also said the district must ensure smaller class sizes and robust cleaning protocols as well as hire more staff to support a hybrid model combining in-person instruction and remote learning. When it comes to online learning, the group also called for more social and emotional support for students and more opportunities for them to engage with their teachers and other staff.
Chicago Public Schools is gearing up to release a draft plan for returning to school in the fall on Friday. Meanwhile, the district’s teachers union said Wednesday that the district should stick with full-time virtual learning when the school year starts in September.
“Parent recommendations and voice should be integral to making decisions for the CPS
back to school plan, and parents shared many ideas that must be considered and
implemented by CPS decision makers,” said Jianan Shi, executive director of Raise Your Hand, in a statement.
Roughly 60% of the parents the group polled were people of color, and about 40% have children with special needs.
Raise Your Hand said that for both special education students and English language learners, the district should increase the time and quality of instruction they receive, give more guidance to parents, and provide opportunities to learn one-on-one or in small groups.
Almost three-quarters of the special education parents surveyed said they did not receive enough support from their schools to help their children learn this past spring. Overall, almost 40% of all participating parents said they wanted more guidance about how to help their students with virtual learning.
