The Chicago Teachers Union detailed its proposal to city officials on Saturday afternoon as negotiations continue and classes are canceled on Monday.

In a statement, CTU released its latest proposal, which would require Chicago public school teachers in buildings to hand out digital devices, register students for COVID-19 tests, and begin distance learning from Wednesday to Wednesday. next Friday.

CTU has proposed that in-person learning could resume on January 18, unless health officials in Chicago and Illinois determine the gathering is unsafe amid the COVID outbreak.

If 30% or more of elementary school students and more than 25% of high school students contract COVID, CTU said classes should move to a virtual learning environment.

In a statement, Chicago Public Schools said they were “dedicated to working day and night so that we can get our students back to school next week, hopefully on Monday,” adding that it will provide parents a “situation update” over the weekend.

Classes will be canceled for a fourth consecutive day on Monday as the district and union continued to question whether distance learning should resume amid the latest increase in COVID cases caused by the omicron variant.

Negotiations are expected to continue over the weekend after teachers voted to return to distance learning earlier this week. The move, criticized as an “illegal work stoppage” by Mayor Lori Lightfoot, has led authorities to completely cancel classes in the past three days.

A parent group represented by the Liberty Justice Center filed a lawsuit against CTU on Friday, calling school closures this week an “illegal strike” and demanding that teachers return to school for in-person instruction .

“… The CTU cannot unilaterally decide what action to take to ensure the safety of public schools, by completely silencing the contribution of parents to what is best for the health, safety and well-being of their children. children, ”Jeffrey Schwab, senior attorney at the Liberty Justice Center, said, in part.

The CPS, meanwhile, filed a labor complaint, accusing the CTU of illegally ordering its members not to report to work as directed, but to work remotely until January 18 or when the CPS responds to certain health measures.

Union says not enough is being done to keep teachers and students safe amid surge in COVID cases, and calls for additional testing and other protocols to be put in place before educators go back to class.

The CPS pushed back against criticism of the union, saying it had spent millions of dollars on security and that a full return to distance learning was not needed despite the rapid increase in COVID cases.

As Bloomberg News reported, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker has asked the Biden administration for COVID-19 testing to help resolve the ongoing dispute.

Pritzker did not say how many tests he requested, but explained that he linked the district to White House officials.

“Parents suffer, children suffer when they cannot return to school and I understand that teachers need to be safe in school like children are,” he said. “The parties need to come together and find common ground and I haven’t seen it yet, but I’m hopeful.”