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After weeks of negotiations over when schools should reopen鈥攚ith teachers protesting going back by sitting outside their schools in snowy weather and teaching virtually鈥攖he Chicago district and the teachers鈥� union reached a tentative agreement on Sunday.

The agreement will now be considered by the union鈥檚 House of Delegates, and if approved, sent to the full membership of 30,000 educators for a vote. Ratifying the deal would avoid having a second teachers鈥� strike in less than two years in the nation鈥檚 third-largest district.

The situation in Chicago is indicative of how influential teachers unions have been in shaping school reopening decisions in some places across the country. While in-person instruction is already happening in much of the country, many teachers in big cities say they鈥檙e reluctant to go back into the classroom amid the coronavirus pandemic, especially before they鈥檙e vaccinated. Yet a growing body of research shows that in-person instruction can be done safely.

Here鈥檚 what looks like in Chicago: Preschoolers and some special education students鈥攚ho have been back in person since Jan. 11 but were sent home on Jan. 27 during negotiations鈥攚ould return to their classrooms Thursday. Elementary teachers would return to campus Feb. 22, with their students coming back March 1, and middle school teachers would report back to buildings March 1, with their students coming back a week later.

There is no date set for high school students鈥� return. Previously, elementary and middle school students were supposed to begin some in-person classes on Feb. 1, with their teachers returning a week before.

The delay gives the district more time to vaccinate teachers, which was a sticking point in the negotiations. Returning preschool and special education teachers, as well as employees with high-risk household members, will be the first to be offered vaccines this week. Then, priority will be given to union members who will soon be returning to in-person instruction, along with members who are at the highest risk for serious illness or who live in one of the 10 zip codes in the city with the highest COVID-19 positivity rates.

Last week, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky said vaccinating teachers is not a prerequisite for reopening schools. The White House, however, downplayed her comments, with Press Secretary Jen Psaki saying that Walensky was speaking in her 鈥減ersonal capacity鈥� and official recommendations would be coming soon.

Accommodations for remote work were another point of contention during Chicago鈥檚 negotiations, with the union saying its members who are high-risk or have high-risk family members shouldn鈥檛 have to work in person, and the district saying it might not be able to properly staff schools if it granted every request. The tentative agreement says that all employees who are high-risk or who are the primary caregivers for someone who is high-risk can work from home. Teachers with no in-person students can also continue to work remotely.

Teachers who have other household members who are high-risk or who have child-care challenges can apply to work remotely, but approval will be based on what is 鈥渙perationally feasible.鈥�

The district also agreed to pause in-person instruction for two weeks if the city鈥檚 COVID-19 positivity rate increases for seven consecutive days, the rate for each of those days is at least 15 percent more than one week prior, and test positivity on the last day is 10 percent or more. These metrics don鈥檛 go as far as the union wanted.

After the tentative deal was announced, the Chicago Teachers Union tweeted that 鈥渘othing is perfect, but this moment, and our work for nearly a year has once again proved that there is no sensible path to collective good without collective action.鈥�

Meanwhile, Janice Jackson, the system鈥檚 chief executive officer, said in a statement that the agreement was a 鈥渧ictory for the students and families who need more than remote learning can provide.鈥�

Where else are unions pushing back on districts鈥� reopening plans?

Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers, the nation鈥檚 second-largest teachers鈥� union, has supported resuming in-person instruction with appropriate safety measures in place. But teachers need to feel supported, she says. 鈥淚鈥檓 confident that we will overcome the fear,鈥� Weingarten . 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 not going to happen in two-and-a-half nanoseconds.鈥�

In many big cities, local unions and their districts have clashed when it comes to determining how and when schools should reopen. Here are some of the negotiations that have taken place in recent weeks.

• In Philadelphia, pre-K through 2nd grade students are scheduled to return to classrooms Feb. 22, with their teachers expected to go back to their schools on Monday. The Philadelphia Federation of Teachers had asked its members to stay home Monday in defiance of the superintendent鈥檚 order, but on Sunday night, the district changed course and said teachers did not have to return to campus yet, . Superintendent William Hite has asked a neutral third-party arbitrator to decide whether buildings are safe, but the mediator has not yet made a decision. Teachers, however, will still protest at dozens of schools today.
  
• The Cincinnati Federation of Teachers sued its school system to stop its plans to start bringing students back into the classroom, but a judge dismissed the complaint. The district began bringing some students back to campus for hybrid instruction Feb. 2, as part of a phased re-entry plan. Students with disabilities and students in pre-K through 3rd grade were the first to head back to school buildings last week. Grades 4-6 and 9-12 will return the week of Feb. 15, and grades 7-8 will return the week of March 1.
  
• Some students in Washington, D.C., began going back into school buildings on Feb. 2 for the first time since March. But the Washington Teachers Union still has concerns about the safety of school buildings, and members to take collective action against the district鈥檚 reopening plan, which could include a strike. Meanwhile, the city filed a temporary restraining order against the union to attempt to prevent it from engaging in a strike or work stoppage. It is illegal for government employees in the District to go on strike, although teachers have engaged in work stoppages before, including participating in a 鈥渟ickout鈥� in November over the school system鈥檚 plan to reopen schools.
  

• Near Seattle, the Bellevue teachers鈥� union reached a 鈥減ainful compromise鈥� with its school district to begin resuming in-person instruction. Late last month, union members refused to report back to school buildings, saying they didn鈥檛 think it was safe before school staff were vaccinated. Other teachers still teaching online didn鈥檛 hold live classes in protest. The district sued the union for its 鈥渋llegal strike,鈥� but the court denied the district鈥檚 request to immediately require teachers to return to the classroom.

  Since then, the district and the union on a more gradual schedule and gives school staff more voice in future reopening decisions, KUOW reported. Still, Bellevue Education Association President Allison Snow told KUOW that teachers of color, in particular, feel 鈥渁bandoned and betrayed鈥� by the decision.
  

• Last week, the city of San Francisco filed a lawsuit against its school district for failure to reopen. Days later, the teachers鈥� union and the district to eventually reopen schools. San Francisco is currently in the state鈥檚 highest tier of risk, but when it drops to the next-highest tier (鈥渟ubstantial鈥� risk, instead of 鈥渨idespread鈥�), schools can reopen as soon as all staff required to work in person have had the opportunity to be vaccinated. If San Francisco falls to the two lowest tiers of risk (鈥渕oderate鈥� or 鈥渕inimal鈥�), schools can reopen regardless of the availability of vaccines.
  

• The Fairfax Education Association in northern Virginia was one of the first unions in the country to draw a hard line: Schools should remain closed until there鈥檚 a vaccine or a widely available treatment for COVID-19. Now, teachers there are starting to receive shots, but the union says schools should remain closed until all school staff members who want to be are vaccinated and until case numbers in the region decline. Still, the district, which is the largest in Virginia, starting Feb. 16. FEA has said it wants a later start date, since all employees won鈥檛 be fully vaccinated by then.

  A since-deleted tweet from the union said a 鈥渟afe return to schools includes 14 days of no community spread, PPE, cleaning equipment, full-time nurses in all schools, as well as staff & student vaccinations,鈥� leading many to believe the union was calling for schools to remain closed until students could be vaccinated. But in an email, FEA President Kimberly Adams said that tweet was simply the union鈥檚 鈥渉ope for the future,鈥� not what they needed in order to support reopening.