Teachers refuse to return to classrooms due to COVID pandemic.  (Photo: Chicago Teachers Union)

Chicago, January 5 (RHC)-- In the U.S. city of Chicago, scores of teachers refused to return to classrooms Monday as the Chicago public school district reopened in-person classes for the first time since March.

Members of the Chicago Teachers Union say they’re preparing a strike authorization vote unless school officials can guarantee stronger protections against the coronavirus.  

Special education teacher Annie Kellogg said: "All of this absolutely breaks my heart.  It breaks all of our hearts.  But we cannot be the great teachers that we are under these unsafe conditions.  And what kind of teachers would we be if we showed our students that our overwhelming anxiety and fear are the most common feelings that are associated with their classroom, their school building and their first school experiences?”