Yana Kunichoff, Chalkbeat Chicago

Chalkbeat Chicago and Curious City caught up with one of the educators to pilot the curriculum in its first year, and who has trained other educators, to talk about his experience teaching about reparations in Chicago.

The already difficult process of learning to read was made even more complicated this year by disparities in remote learning experiences coupled with wide-ranging inconsistency in how Chicago schools teach reading.

Jackson — who worked for Chicago Public Schools as a teacher and principal, and led the district for 3 ½ years — will step down when her contact expires in June. It falls to Mayor Lori Lightfoot to appoint Jackson's replacement.

Under Chicago’s system, it will now be up to Mayor Lori Lightfoot to appoint a new schools chief to take Jackson’s place.

About 19 percent of students were absent, 70 percent of students learned remotely, and 11 percent of the district’s 72,600 high school students were present in school buildings the week of April 19.

Classroom teachers often are the emotional first responders to students who may share names, zip codes or life stories with the young people affected by police violence.

As Chicago opened its high school buildings Monday for the first time in a year, the schools chief made clear that her goal is to open all schools to all students five days a week.

Members of the Chicago Teachers Union voted for the agreement with 83 percent in favor.

Teachers upped the pressure on the district to reach an agreement by refusing to report to classrooms Wednesday and Thursday.

As union and district leaders clashed over details of reopening, teachers worked from home and refused to report to classrooms Wednesday and Thursday.

High school educators will refuse to work from school buildings unless an agreement is reached with the district before then.

Officials said they are working with the city’s public health department on a vaccination plan for students 16 and older, but the district has not shared any details.

The dynamic in a city deeply segregated by race and wealth has long contributed to the inequalities among schools.

Officials are calling back most teachers this spring and have reported an uptick in the number of families signing up for in-person learning.

CPS plans to spend the money across three years to expand the number of behavioral support teams from 200 schools to closer to 500 and enlist more help from community groups through grants.

The district said Tuesday that April 19 is a “target” date and negotiations with the teachers union, which have been productive, are ongoing.

The goal will be to test symptomatic students or those who had close contact with a person who tested positive for the virus, and to use surveillance testing to catch students who may be asymptomatic.

Chalkbeat Chicago caught up with four fourth graders who, like millions of students, have seen their school system roiled by change.

Almost 61,000 students in prekindergarten through eighth grade as well as some high school special education students are expected in school buildings by the end of next week, when the district will bring back the middle grades.

Of the more than 10,800 teachers expected to report for in-person learning so far, the district granted 3,750 accommodations.