rich 1.0 Action Network https://actionnetwork.org <link href='https://actionnetwork.org/css/style-embed-v3.css' rel='stylesheet' type='text/css' /><script src='https://actionnetwork.org/widgets/v6/petition/keep-our-campuses-safe?format=js&source=widget'></script><div id='can-petition-area-keep-our-campuses-safe' style='width: 100%'><!-- this div is the target for our HTML insertion --></div> Illinois Federation of Teachers https://actionnetwork.org/groups/illinois-federation-of-teachers https://can2-prod.s3.amazonaws.com/petitions/photos/000/191/567/normal/PetitionBanner.jpg Covid-19 continues to surge in Illinois and across the country. Unfortunately, the Illinois Board of Higher Education’s (IBHE) return to campus guidelines provide no technical requirements based on current scientific findings for protecting students, faculty, staff, and our communities. Further, many private colleges and universities do not fall under the auspices of the IBHE and have no guidance to govern their return to campus plans. As a result, the reopening plans of many Illinois colleges and universities fail to address the general airborne nature of Covid-19, including indoor aerosol spread and buildup, and do not provide adequate safety measures to protect everyone involved. As cases of Covid-19 continue to climb, we must plan pragmatically and follow the science rather than a desire to return to normal. Concentrating large numbers of students from various locations into a single area increases the risk of large scale Covid-19 spread, particularly in indoor settings. As the CDC notes, the safest option is to limit direct and sustained face-to-face contact. We must stop pretending that it is possible to have education-as-usual without endangering students, faculty, staff, and our communities. https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/keep-our-campuses-safe