Background
Lewis is the daughter of a family of teachers.
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Karen Lewis
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She is the current president of the, local 1 of the American Federation of Teachers. She is a former King College Preparatory High School and Lane Technical High School chemistry teacher, her occupation for 22 years before becoming president of the teachers union. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College.
She left Kenwood High School (now Kenwood Academy) after her junior year to attend Mount Holyoke College.
She transferred to Dartmouth College in 1972 and is the only African American woman in the class of 1974, with a degree in sociology and music Lewis is the president of the In 2010, Lewis, running with the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (Congress of Racial Equality), gained control over the CTU by winning 60% of the vote in a run-off election.
Congress of Racial Equality ran an aggressive grassroots organizing campaign, and took a strong stance against school privatization. Congress of Racial Equality accused the incumbent United Progressive Caucus (Universal Product Code) of capitulating to corporate interests, silencing dissent within the union, and collaborating with the city to prevent union outreach at schools.
The new leadership cut pay for union officers and used the savings to expand outreach.
Congress of Racial Equality represented a major bloc of dissent at the 2012 AFT convention, and held signs in protest of Race to the Top during a speech from Vice President Joe Biden. 2012 strike In early September 2012 she led the on a strike. While it failed to get a 30 percent raise the union sought, the union softened the proposed teacher evaluation system, prevented the instituting of merit pay, and ensured protections for veteran teachers in phased out schools.
Prior to the strike she went through several months of negotiations with Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel and Emanuel appointee Chicago Public Schools board president Penny Pritzker.
Lewis claimed that during a disagreement over lengthening the school day, Emanuel said, “Fuck you, Lewis.” Potential 2015 mayoral candidacy In July 2014, Lewis set up an exploratory committee to consider running for mayor of Chicago in 2015. In a poll from the same month, Lewis bested Emanuel 45-36 in a hypothetical electoral contest.
On October 13, 2014, her exploratory committee announced that she would not run, citing health issues (see section below). 2015 – The Deborah West. On October 9, 2014, Lewis was hospitalized for a "serious illness".
On October 13, a source confirmed that Lewis had been diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor.
Achievements
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Congress of Racial Equality quickly took action to distinguish itself from Universal Product Code, the previous caucus controlling the CTU, reaffirm its grassroots support, and launch a campaign to defend public education.
Membership
She has been a member of the union since 1988.
