Chicago teachers backs deal to reopen schools after COVID walkout

Chicago Public Schools, the third-largest U.S. education district, will resume in-person classes on Wednesday after a union backed ending a walkout over COVID-19 protection fears, Mayor Lori Lightfoot said on Monday.

"Switching completely back to remote learning again without a public health reason to do so would have created and amplified the social, emotional and economic turmoil that far too many of our families are facing," Lightfoot said at a news conference. The walkout started last week, idling some 340,000 students, and came after the teachers' union voted to reinstate virtual instruction and pushed for more rigorous safety protocols, including wider testing, citing the rapid spread of the highly infectious Omicron variant in recent weeks.

The union is due to hold a news conference shortly.