Marilyn Stewart vows to continue fight against turnarounds following CPS vote
Chicago Teachers Union President Marilyn Stewart vowed on February 24, 2010, that the union, the largest in Illinois, will continue the fight for public education and against the closings. Stewart's statement came at the end of a day that saw Stewart and a number of the union staff do a picket line at Wendell Phillips HIgh School (244 E. Pershing Road) on behalf of the teachers there and against the proposed "turnaoround" of Phillips.
During the past five days, Stewart and her staff have been holding meetings at the schools remaining on the 2010 Hit List. Stewart also had the union file and unsuccessl lawsuit to block the actions.
The following is the text of the press release sent out by CTU on February 24 following the vote:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Rosemaria Genova
February 24, 2010 Office: 312/329-6250/Cell: 708/712-4629
Statement by Marilyn Stewart, President of the Chicago Teachers Union, on the Board of Education’s School Closing Vote
CTU President Marilyn Stewart released the following statement Wednesday afternoon in reaction to the vote taken today on school closings for 2010.
“I’m extremely disappointed but not surprised by today’s vote. I was hoping new leadership at CPS would have postponed the vote to allow the education stakeholders to come to the table and work collaboratively with the Board to improve these schools.
“CEO Ron Huberman’s decision to remove schools last week and as late as yesterday tells me that he acknowledges the process for selecting schools is flawed. It leads one to question whether the district really examined the criteria in the first place.
“Mr. Huberman has indicated he will re-examine the school closing process and he wants to create a task unit to work on it. Why wait until next year to do that and not just start now? What will happen to these schools if new information in the weeks or months to come surfaces? Will these schools be removed or adjusted like seven of the fourteen on this year’s list?
“We are consulting with our legal team to review all possible legal remedies available to us. I can say this fight to save public education and protect our teachers and students is far from over.”
