Chicago teachers union leader calls for continued school closures while she vacations in Puerto Rico

A leader with the Chicago Teachers Union is under fire this week after calling for continued remote learning for students even as she herself was vacationing in Puerto Rico for New Year's.

Sarah Chambers, a regional vice president with the CTU, wrote on Twitter on New Year's Eve that teachers in Chicago were pledging to continue "asserting [their] right to continue to work in a safe remote environment on January 4th, 2021."

"I have signed [a] pledge, along with over 8,000+ union educators to continue to work remotely," Chambers wrote.

Yet even as Chambers was calling for continued school closures in Chicago, she was vacationing in Puerto Rico and posting photos of herself poolside on her Instagram account.

"Pool life," she wrote as a caption to the photo showing her in a sun hat and a swimsuit by a pool.

Chambers later defended herself on Twitter after sustained criticism over the apparent hypocrisy.

"I got 4 covid tests (2 rapid, 2 PCR) b4 coming here & wore 2 masks (N95)," she wrote. "Scientists said airplanes are safer than grocery stores bc airplanes have ICU level filtration & everyone wears masks."

"My doc said it's extremely unlikely for me to get Covid again since I had it so badly," she added.

Chambers's Instagram account has since been made private.