CANDIDATES' SPEECHES TO THE MAY CTU HOUSE OF DELEGATES MEETING: CORE's Karen Lewis's speech to the May 5, 2010 CTU House of Delegates meeting
[Editor's Note: On May 5, 2010, Substance asked the five candidates running for President of the Chicago Teachers Union for digital copies of the speeches they were delivering that night the the union's House of Delegates meeting. The following, provided to us by Karen Lewis, candidate from the Caucus Of Rank and file Educators (CORE) caucus was provided to us the following day. We are publishing the speeches of all the candidates for CTU president here so that as many members of the union (and the general public) can follow what is one of the most important elections in Chicago this year. Readers can also get information about Karen Lewis's candidacy at the CORE Website of the United Progressive Caucus — www.COREteachers.com. The May 2010 print edition of Substance will be published and distributed beginning May 11, 2010, and will contain exclusive materials not available here in our on-line edition, including interviews with several candidates. Those who wish to receive the May edition by mail can subscribe (see button on the right below our ads). Additional copies will also be available. George N. Schmidt, Editor, Substance].
Candidates from CORE came together for a moment during the leafleting scrum outside the May 5, 2010, meeting of the Chicago Teachers Union at the headquarters of Local 399 of the Operating Engineers union. Above (left to right): Michael Brunson (candidate for Recording Secretary), Karen Lewis (President), Jesse Sharkey (Vice President). Not pictured is Kristine Mayle (see photo below), who was delayed in getting to the meeting, which is in a remote location with poor parking. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.My name is Karen Jennings Lewis. I am a 23-year teacher and the product of Chicago Public Schools, the daughter of two CPS teachers, the wife of a retired CPS teacher and a National Board Certified Teacher. I am my school’s delegate, have served as an AFT/IFT delegate, Chairman of the Human Relations Committee a member of the Executive Board, and I currently serve on the State Teachers Certification Board. Recently I earned a certificate from the U of I in Public Union Administration as did 25 of my fellow CORE members.
I am proud to be CORE’s presidential candidate because we believe the collective power of our 30,000 members has been squandered by past leadership. That mistake has cost us 12,000 jobs, a loss of negotiating leverage along with our bargaining rights and our professional reputations. On May 21st, will you cast your vote for the broken promises of the past, the paralysis of the present or make a stand with CORE for your future?
I can’t overstate this – we are in the fight of our professional lives. The 20 year attack on urban public education is well-planned, well-funded and well-organized, but teachers across the US have posted some big wins.
IN FLORIDA, the sitting republican governor vetoed a bill that would have eliminated tenure and tied teachers’ salaries to test scores because teachers there mobilized 100,000 stakeholders.
IN LA, union teachers won 29 of 30 new school contracts, cutting non-union charters off at the knees.
IN DC, the union is back in courts fighting teacher cuts made on budget deficit lies. CORE has reached out to these leaders and received valuable information on their hard work.
CORE candidate for CTU President Karen Lewis (above at podium) delivered her speech to the CTU House of Delegates later during the May 5 meeting. Substance photo courtesy of Chicago Teachers Union. AND IN CHICAGO, WE’VE HAD SOME TERRIFIC WINS and CORE has been the catalyst. Our EEOC discrimination case against turnarounds passed its first hurdle and will go to the Department of Justice. CORE and its city-wide coalition of teachers, parents, community organizations and students saved 12 schools from closing.
Before CORE came on the scene, the Board batted a thousand on closings. And don’t believe anyone here tonight when they try to take credit for our hard work and our courage. Hundreds of CORE members set the tone and pushed back at each and every school closing hearing, every charter school opening hearing, every Board meeting and every budget hearing. Not a few protests or press conferences or an appearance here and there, but real participation.
CORE’s constant voices not only SLOWED the mayor’s march to privatize our schools, destroy our jobs and bust our union; we shamed the Board into changing the way they do business!
This is all because we have a plan — like any teacher, if you don’t have a plan for these folks, they certainly will have a plan for you!
For the last two years, CORE has had a plan for the budget. We demanded that before the Board talks to CTU members about our contract, they need to cancel their contracts with the UNNAMED “consultants” – NAME ‘EM; Teach for America, AUSL – those turnaround specialists who get $300,000 to manage just one school. Not teach. Not lead. Not build community. Just manage.
We demand to see the books of the charter schools because we’ve never seen a SINGLE ONE!
CORE's Nate Goldbaum (right) greets CORE candidate for Financial Secretary Kristine Mayle (left) before the May 5 House of Delegates meeting. Goldbaum edits CORE's award winning newsletter, which he is holding. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.We demanded that Huberman ask his boss for the TIF money he’s been holding onto while starving neighborhood schools. WE have a plan to stop wasting money on unproven canned curriculum and costly, excessive testing that narrows the curriculum and robs us of the joy of teaching and learning.
We need a plan that we INITATE and LEAD legislation in Springfield and Chicago. We reward those who support us and punish those that work against us. That means refusing to endorse Daley instead of the milquetoast “no endorsement” stance while we work in concert with other unions to support candidates to run against him and any other enemy of the CTU.
We are the largest local in the Midwest and why do we act like we are afraid of these two little men?
Well, CORE isn’t! But the MOST IMPORTANT PLAN is our plan to mobilize our membership into an organizing and advocacy union! Our members have endured principal abuse, Board tyranny and now the dishonesty of a deficit we didn’t create seemingly without complaint. Our members deserve respect and information and the power to use it. Building by building, we will heal the wounds by being honest, open and inclusive. You are the experts, you are the union. It’s a new way in this new time!
Comments:
By: Garth Liebhaber
CORE: Not Just Waiting for the Next Election...
Yes, I think what differentiates CORE from the other caucuses, is because for the last two years they have been organizing not for the next election, but for the ongoing fight. I have not seen any of the other caucuses organizing teachers around our vital interests nearly to the effect that CORE has. I think PACT comes in next. I know Debbie has written editorials and been a presence at organizing events for teachers. SEA and CSDU have been repeating UPC's mantra of "we are experienced," but I ask, "at what?". Turning House of Delegate's microphones off? Helping to sell the HoD a five year contract that Stewart revealed on Chicago Tonight as something "Daley wanted"? And to then ignore the "no" vote? UPC continues to ridicule teachers for being "lazy" that they didn't go to a rally in Springfield scheduled for report card pickup day? SEA and CSDU came from the UPC, but now say they are above the UPC antics. What have they done as organizations aside from running for office? I know CSDU worked with the displaced teachers organization, garnering a letter of recommendation. Are there other things, or are we supposed to simply "trust their leadership?". While I fully divulge that I am member of CORE, and also a photographer for Substance, I write the above comment mostly as a teacher. A teacher frustrated at our working conditions, and frustrated of opportunists within the union that we find are actually working against it's membership. Ie., hiring a scab to work as a lobbyist, giving money to legislators sponsoring laws that hurt teachers! Or Vice-Presidents who claim, "this is the best contract ever!" and then ignore a House of Delegates chanting "No! No! No!"
By: Joe from CORE
Great Speech Karen
I've been following the news out of Oakland lately and the way that the parents, students, and community all supported the one day work stoppage in Oakland and forced the school district back to the bargaining table. We've been spending so long as union members sending in our dues and trusting our lobbyists and the legislature to take care of us. We're seeing the results of that right now.
I've only been in CORE for 9 months now, but this is exactly the reason I joined. Fighting city hall is never easy and in Chicago it's even harder, but having seen the coalition that CORE has built with community groups like GEM, KOCO, and the Pilsen Alliance, I really believe that if anybody can organize for this struggle it's Karen and CORE.