For Teachers Unions, Classroom Reopenings Are the Biggest Test Yet

By early August, the Chicago Teachers Union had its fill of magical thinking. After a spring of virtual learning, Chicago, like many cities around the U.S., was pushing toward reopening classrooms in the fall. The revival of the local economy seemed to hinge on parents’ ability to get back to work, and plenty were desperate to get their kids somewhere, anywhere, just out of the house.

Teachers around the country had spent weeks campaigning against reopenings. They’d flooded school board meetings, governors’ mailboxes, and Facebook news feeds, posting versions of their own obituaries. Even U.S. infectious disease chief Anthony Fauci, the face of America’s Covid response, left some teachers feeling they’d been judged acceptable losses. “Though this may sound a little scary and harsh—I don’t mean it to be that way—you’re going to actually be part of the experiment,” Fauci said on July 28, during an online Q&A session organized by the American Federation of Teachers.