Karen Lewis = sellout?

[Hannah Bell]

But the biggest controversy is in Chicago, where Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Karen Lewis shocked members of the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE), a reform group that was the backbone of her candidacy last year, by personally giving the union's endorsement for sweeping legislation that, among other things, severely restricts teachers' right to strike, undermines seniority protections for Illinois teachers outside Chicago, and increases the school day without a guaranteed increase in pay.

To make matters worse, Lewis, a founding member of CORE, failed to report that she had already signed off on the legislation when she spoke to union delegates in a videoconference April 13, the day after she agreed to the legislation.

In a letter to CTU members, Lewis portrayed the deal as a victory over billionaire-backed education "reform" forces that initially pushed legislation which would have gutted tenure and effectively banned teacher strikes. "We successfully made the case that the right to strike, seniority, due process and a solid evaluation system all play an integral role to make possible the promise of democracy, equity and quality in public education," she wrote to explain why she personally gave the CTU's endorsement to the legislation. The Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) and Illinois Education Association (IEA) also backed the legislation, known as SB 7.

Certainly, the final education legislation could have been even worse had Lewis and the CTU stayed away from negotiations altogether. The union had every interest in pushing back. But instead of walking out when an anti-union bill was finalized and opposing it, Lewis praised it, thereby confusing and disarming CTU members. By endorsing a bill that virtually bans a Chicago teacher strike, Lewis was surrendering without firing a shot. The question now is whether the CTU will continue to stand by Lewis' endorsement of SB 7 or reject it.

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