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Op-Ed: Mask mandate is gone for most
Illinois schools, but teachers unions still demand more power over kids,
parents
By Mailee Smith | Illinois Policy Institute.
Illinois’ largest teachers unions in the past two
pandemic years have shown their priority is power, not students’ welfare
or parents’ rights. |
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 In 2020-2021, the Chicago Teachers
Union fought to prevent the reopening of schools and kept kids out of the
classroom for 17 months, even as experts around the country acknowledged
in-person learning was best for kids. January 2022 was a near repeat, with CTU
walking out on kids for five school days, demanding remote work and
renegotiating safety standards with Chicago Public Schools.
The district just announced masks can come off March 14, but again CTU is filing
a grievance to keep control over a choice parents should make and asserting
union bosses know better than public health experts.
The Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers also
recently fought to keep the state school mask mandate in place. When a legal
challenge to Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s mandate reached a state appellate court, IEA
and IFT filed a legal brief asking the court to keep kids in masks while the
case continued, despite falling COVID-19 case rates.
The message to parents is clear: union leaders think their preferred policies
should overpower what parents think is best for their children.
But the fight for union control over parents’ decisions doesn’t end with
COVID-19 policies. Teachers unions are also fighting to hold complete power over
the people of Illinois through a constitutional amendment on the Nov. 8 ballot.
Inaccurately dubbed a “workers’ rights amendment” by proponents, Amendment 1
would actually place multiple provisions into the Illinois Constitution allowing
government unions to demand virtually anything during negotiations. If voters
agree, it would prohibit anyone, including lawmakers, from ever limiting what
unions could demand or when they could strike.
Unions would be able to bargain about anything during contract negotiations,
even beyond salary and benefits to include political requests. They could strike
to get their demands met. Then expect more property or income tax hikes by
governments to fund union demands.
What’s more, government union contracts would carry the weight of the Illinois
Constitution. Government unions would be able to rewrite law through union
contracts, and lawmakers’ hands would be tied, leaving voters powerless to hold
anyone accountable.
No other state constitution includes such broad language, giving government
unions in Illinois the most extreme powers in the nation if the amendment
passes. If they succeed in Illinois, expect unions to campaign for the same
powers in other states – taking choice away from individuals and letting
unelected union bosses to dictate public policy.
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CTU already has gone so far as to claim its “safety agreement” with CPS requires
kids – clearly not a party to that agreement – to stay masked, despite what
Illinois courts and law may say. If Amendment 1 passes, CTU’s “safety agreement”
would automatically override any laws or state policies to the contrary.
And that’s just the start.
CTU has already pushed its social agenda on housing, immigration, wealth
redistribution and defunding the police in negotiations with CPS. Amendment 1
would allow unlimited demands, and the union’s permanent ability to walk out on
kids to achieve their political agenda.
IEA and IFT’s amicus curiae brief in the Fourth District Appellate Court shows
teachers unions believe their opinions and agenda should trump parental
preferences, law and even the courts.
The unions argued courts are not well-suited to make “scientific judgments” when
considering the legality of student mask mandates, and that doing so would
improperly elevate courts to a role in crafting public policy.
Yet that’s exactly what the unions have tried to do.
The teachers unions are not health authorities, but they have articulated
demands allegedly in the form of “safety” protocols and – as in the case of CTU
– have walked out on students to get those demands met. In fact, CTU did so in
2022 despite Chicago Public Health Commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady stating she
was confident schools were safe for in-person classes.
What’s more, CTU wants its “safety agreement,” which was demanded and crafted by
the union – an unelected, third party – to be followed, rather than current
guidance of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The unions don’t really want health officials to make the rules. The unions want
to make the rules. And that’s exactly what will happen if Amendment 1 passes.
The COVID-19 pandemic has shown parents they don’t have representation at the
bargaining table. If unions demand something, they can walk out until their
demands are met. Parents don’t have that option and have been locked out of a
meaningful say in issues related to the education of their own children.
Amendment 1 poses a real danger to the public schools in Illinois. Parents will
lose all say over the day-to-day education of their children. Teachers unions
would have a permanent right to strike to get whatever they want.
And parents’ rights, and what’s best for kids, would be at the back of the line
Mailee Smith is staff attorney and director of labor policy for
the Illinois Policy Institute. |
