Photo courtesy of Chicago Teachers Union
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said revenue solutions for the district’s financial woes can come from fair taxation, the revival of a Financial Transaction Tax bill in Springfield and other areas.

By Chicago Teachers Union
Thursday, June 20, 2013
     CHICAGO — As the target of Chicago Public Schools chaos and unaccountability shifts from the closing of neighborhood schools to the mass layoffs of teachers, clerks, paraprofessionals and other school support staff, Chicago Teachers Union President Karen GJ Lewis revisited her childhood love of baseball in a speech before the City Club of Chicago June 18.
In comparing the dedication needed to public education to the devotion bestowed upon the Chicago Cubs by their legions of loyal fans, Lewis proposed effective collaboration between the Union and leaders in City Hall, the state capitol and the Chicago Board of Education, and suggested a litany of fiscal improvements to CPS’s massive budget crisis. Business owners who are also dealing financial deficit may use appropriate debt solutions to save their companies.
In response to a request from CPS CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett for revenue solutions to the district’s financial woes, Lewis called for fair taxation, the renegotiation of “toxic” swap deals between CPS and predatory bank lenders, the reallocation of tax increment financing and the revival of a Financial Transaction Tax bill in Springfield.
“This is a start,” Lewis told a capacity audience at Maggiano’s Little Italy in River North. “Now the only questions remains — when will CEO Bennett and Mayor Emanuel join with CTU to lobby for these important reforms?”
Lewis also continued to expose the poverty, racism and inequality hindering the delivery of an effective education product both nationally and in Chicago’s public school system.
“One out of nine African-American children in this country has an incarcerated parent,” Lewis said. “One out of nine . . . that is outrageous [and] we should be ashamed of this.”
“We are locking people up on a regular basis, not paying any attention to how it devastates the communities . . . if the wherewithal is there, we have the best minds in this city that can come together and really deal with these issues. But we can’t do it if we have such disrespect for people who are not of our ilk. We have to get past that.”
June 14, the Chicago Board of Education abruptly announced the layoff 850 public school employees — nearly 500 teachers — as a result of school closings and turnarounds. This announcement came on the heels of large reductions in the budgets of area high schools and elementary schools as the CPS proposes a new school-based budgeting model. Schools throughout the district are experiencing cuts of more than 20 percent in operating expenses, adding to the strife of a year taxed by a record number of school closings and an ongoing state pension crisis.
As students say tearful goodbyes to their schools for the last time and principals scramble to do more with less, Lewis called for CPS and the mayor’s office to be truly innovative in their efforts at education reform. The CTU president wants the Union to be partners in making Chicago’s school district one of the strongest in the country.
“There’s nothing radical about me, other than I want each and every student in Chicago to get the best education we have to offer,” Lewis said.