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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened
3to learn of the death of former Chicago Teachers Union
4President Karen GJ Lewis, who passed away on February 7, 2021;
5and
 
6    WHEREAS, Karen Lewis was born in Hyde Park on July 20,
71953; she was a direct descendant of Jackie Vaughn who was the
8first Black female president of the Chicago Teachers Union
9(CTU); she was the daughter of Geoffrey Jennings and Martha
10Gakins, both Chicago Public Schools (CPS) teachers; as a
11child, she walked the picket lines when the CTU went on strike;
12she attended Kenwood Academy High School; she attended Mount
13Holyoke College in Massachusetts in 1970; she later
14transferred to Dartmouth College, where she was the only Black
15woman who applied to be in the class of 1974 and the only Black
16woman in her graduating class; she married John Lewis in 2001;
17and
 
18    WHEREAS, Karen Lewis became a substitute chemistry teacher
19at Sullivan High School in 1987 and then moved to a full-time
20teaching position the next year; she started teaching at Lane
21Tech College Prep High School in 1990; she went to work at King
22College Prep in 2006 and also increased her union activity; in
232008, she joined the newly-formed Coalition of Rank-and-File

 

 

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1Educators (CORE), a group of teachers fighting to stop school
2closings and pushing back against pressures from City Hall;
3and
 
4    WHEREAS, Karen Lewis followed in her family's footsteps
5and became a national figure in the labor and education
6movements; she defeated two-time union president Marilyn
7Stewart in a run-off election for the Chicago Teachers Union
8presidency in 2010; and
 
9    WHEREAS, As president of the Chicago Teachers Union, Karen
10Lewis worked hand-in-hand with Senator Lightford to pass SB7
11into law in 2011, the largest piece of education reform in more
12than 30 years; she held a strike authorization vote in May 2012
13after the school board voted to rescind a four percent
14contractual pay raise Chicago Public Schools (CPS) teachers
15were set to receive, which led to a remarkable 90 percent of
16CTU membership voting to strike; she oversaw 26,000 CPS
17teachers walking off their jobs as the first Chicago teachers
18strike in 25 years began on September 10, 2012; her leadership
19was instrumental in leading to a deal being made on September
2018, 2012, which included giving teachers a seven percent raise
21over three years, with another two percent if they extended
22the contract a fourth year, and reduced the percentage of
23teachers' evaluations based on test scores; she fought against
24CPS' tendency to borrow money and fought for the protection of

 

 

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1"Dreamers", undocumented immigrants brought to this country as
2children; and
 
3    WHEREAS, Karen Lewis was elected to a second term as
4president of the Chicago Teachers Union after receiving 80
5percent of the vote in May 2013; after running unopposed, she
6was appointed to her third three-year term in April 2016, just
7days after she led a one-day teachers walkout to draw
8attention to deadlocked contract talks; she left office as CTU
9president in 2014 and was replaced by Jesse Sharkey; she
10retired from the union altogether due to health concerns in
112018; and
 
12    WHEREAS, Karen Lewis formed an exploratory committee and
13seriously considered running for Chicago Mayor in 2015;
14however, she was diagnosed with brain cancer late in 2014,
15which forced her to abandon her plans; she handpicked Chuy
16Garcia to be her surrogate, which forced a run-off election
17against former Mayor Rham Emanuel; despite her faltering
18health, she participated as she could in the election; and
 
19    WHEREAS, Karen Lewis spoke three languages; she loved
20opera, show tunes, and dancing; she performed stand-up comedy
21at the Woodlawn Tap; and
 
22    WHEREAS, Karen Lewis was invaluable to the community and

 

 

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1to those who knew her; she will be greatly missed; and
 
2    WHEREAS, Karen Lewis is survived by her husband, John
3Lewis, and her sister, Keli Jennings; therefore, be it
 
4    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL
5ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of
6former Chicago Teachers Union President Karen GJ Lewis and
7extend our sincere condolences to her family, friends, and all
8who knew and loved her; and be it further
 
9    RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be
10presented to the family of Karen Lewis as an expression of our
11deepest sympathy.