Full Text of SR0210 102nd General Assembly
SR0210 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY |
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| 1 | | SENATE RESOLUTION
| 2 | | WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened | 3 | | to learn of the death of former Chicago Teachers Union | 4 | | President Karen GJ Lewis, who passed away on February 7, 2021; | 5 | | and
| 6 | | WHEREAS, Karen Lewis was born in Hyde Park on July 20, | 7 | | 1953; she was a direct descendant of Jackie Vaughn who was the | 8 | | first Black female president of the Chicago Teachers Union | 9 | | (CTU); she was the daughter of Geoffrey Jennings and Martha | 10 | | Gakins, both Chicago Public Schools (CPS) teachers; as a | 11 | | child, she walked the picket lines when the CTU went on strike; | 12 | | she attended Kenwood Academy High School; she attended Mount | 13 | | Holyoke College in Massachusetts in 1970; she later | 14 | | transferred to Dartmouth College, where she was the only Black | 15 | | woman who applied to be in the class of 1974 and the only Black | 16 | | woman in her graduating class; she married John Lewis in 2001; | 17 | | and
| 18 | | WHEREAS, Karen Lewis became a substitute chemistry teacher | 19 | | at Sullivan High School in 1987 and then moved to a full-time | 20 | | teaching position the next year; she started teaching at Lane | 21 | | Tech College Prep High School in 1990; she went to work at King | 22 | | College Prep in 2006 and also increased her union activity; in | 23 | | 2008, she joined the newly-formed Coalition of Rank-and-File |
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| 1 | | Educators (CORE), a group of teachers fighting to stop school | 2 | | closings and pushing back against pressures from City Hall; | 3 | | and
| 4 | | WHEREAS, Karen Lewis followed in her family's footsteps | 5 | | and became a national figure in the labor and education | 6 | | movements; she defeated two-time union president Marilyn | 7 | | Stewart in a run-off election for the Chicago Teachers Union | 8 | | presidency in 2010; and
| 9 | | WHEREAS, As president of the Chicago Teachers Union, Karen | 10 | | Lewis worked hand-in-hand with Senator Lightford to pass SB7 | 11 | | into law in 2011, the largest piece of education reform in more | 12 | | than 30 years; she held a strike authorization vote in May 2012 | 13 | | after the school board voted to rescind a four percent | 14 | | contractual pay raise Chicago Public Schools (CPS) teachers | 15 | | were set to receive, which led to a remarkable 90 percent of | 16 | | CTU membership voting to strike; she oversaw 26,000 CPS | 17 | | teachers walking off their jobs as the first Chicago teachers | 18 | | strike in 25 years began on September 10, 2012; her leadership | 19 | | was instrumental in leading to a deal being made on September | 20 | | 18, 2012, which included giving teachers a seven percent raise | 21 | | over three years, with another two percent if they extended | 22 | | the contract a fourth year, and reduced the percentage of | 23 | | teachers' evaluations based on test scores; she fought against | 24 | | CPS' tendency to borrow money and fought for the protection of |
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| 1 | | "Dreamers", undocumented immigrants brought to this country as | 2 | | children; and
| 3 | | WHEREAS, Karen Lewis was elected to a second term as | 4 | | president of the Chicago Teachers Union after receiving 80 | 5 | | percent of the vote in May 2013; after running unopposed, she | 6 | | was appointed to her third three-year term in April 2016, just | 7 | | days after she led a one-day teachers walkout to draw | 8 | | attention to deadlocked contract talks; she left office as CTU | 9 | | president in 2014 and was replaced by Jesse Sharkey; she | 10 | | retired from the union altogether due to health concerns in | 11 | | 2018; and
| 12 | | WHEREAS, Karen Lewis formed an exploratory committee and | 13 | | seriously considered running for Chicago Mayor in 2015; | 14 | | however, she was diagnosed with brain cancer late in 2014, | 15 | | which forced her to abandon her plans; she handpicked Chuy | 16 | | Garcia to be her surrogate, which forced a run-off election | 17 | | against former Mayor Rham Emanuel; despite her faltering | 18 | | health, she participated as she could in the election; and
| 19 | | WHEREAS, Karen Lewis spoke three languages; she loved | 20 | | opera, show tunes, and dancing; she performed stand-up comedy | 21 | | at the Woodlawn Tap; and
| 22 | | WHEREAS, Karen Lewis was invaluable to the community and |
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| 1 | | to those who knew her; she will be greatly missed; and
| 2 | | WHEREAS, Karen Lewis is survived by her husband, John | 3 | | Lewis, and her sister, Keli Jennings; therefore, be it
| 4 | | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL | 5 | | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of | 6 | | former Chicago Teachers Union President Karen GJ Lewis and | 7 | | extend our sincere condolences to her family, friends, and all | 8 | | who knew and loved her; and be it further
| 9 | | RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 10 | | presented to the family of Karen Lewis as an expression of our | 11 | | deepest sympathy.
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