SR0210 102ND GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SR0210 LRB102 18020 LAW 24875 r

SENATE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, The members of the Illinois Senate are saddened to learn of the death of former Chicago Teachers Union President Karen GJ Lewis, who passed away on February 7, 2021; and

WHEREAS, Karen Lewis was born in Hyde Park on July 20, 1953; she was a direct descendant of Jackie Vaughn who was the first Black female president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU); she was the daughter of Geoffrey Jennings and Martha Gakins, both Chicago Public Schools (CPS) teachers; as a child, she walked the picket lines when the CTU went on strike; she attended Kenwood Academy High School; she attended Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts in 1970; she later transferred to Dartmouth College, where she was the only Black woman who applied to be in the class of 1974 and the only Black woman in her graduating class; she married John Lewis in 2001; and

WHEREAS, Karen Lewis became a substitute chemistry teacher at Sullivan High School in 1987 and then moved to a full-time teaching position the next year; she started teaching at Lane Tech College Prep High School in 1990; she went to work at King College Prep in 2006 and also increased her union activity; in 2008, she joined the newly-formed Coalition of Rank-and-File Educators (CORE), a group of teachers fighting to stop school closings and pushing back against pressures from City Hall; and

WHEREAS, Karen Lewis followed in her family's footsteps and became a national figure in the labor and education movements; she defeated two-time union president Marilyn Stewart in a run-off election for the Chicago Teachers Union presidency in 2010; and

WHEREAS, As president of the Chicago Teachers Union, Karen Lewis worked hand-in-hand with Senator Lightford to pass SB7 into law in 2011, the largest piece of education reform in more than 30 years; she held a strike authorization vote in May 2012 after the school board voted to rescind a four percent contractual pay raise Chicago Public Schools (CPS) teachers were set to receive, which led to a remarkable 90 percent of CTU membership voting to strike; she oversaw 26,000 CPS teachers walking off their jobs as the first Chicago teachers strike in 25 years began on September 10, 2012; her leadership was instrumental in leading to a deal being made on September 18, 2012, which included giving teachers a seven percent raise over three years, with another two percent if they extended the contract a fourth year, and reduced the percentage of teachers' evaluations based on test scores; she fought against CPS' tendency to borrow money and fought for the protection of "Dreamers", undocumented immigrants brought to this country as children; and

WHEREAS, Karen Lewis was elected to a second term as president of the Chicago Teachers Union after receiving 80 percent of the vote in May 2013; after running unopposed, she was appointed to her third three-year term in April 2016, just days after she led a one-day teachers walkout to draw attention to deadlocked contract talks; she left office as CTU president in 2014 and was replaced by Jesse Sharkey; she retired from the union altogether due to health concerns in 2018; and

WHEREAS, Karen Lewis formed an exploratory committee and seriously considered running for Chicago Mayor in 2015; however, she was diagnosed with brain cancer late in 2014, which forced her to abandon her plans; she handpicked Chuy Garcia to be her surrogate, which forced a run-off election against former Mayor Rham Emanuel; despite her faltering health, she participated as she could in the election; and

WHEREAS, Karen Lewis spoke three languages; she loved opera, show tunes, and dancing; she performed stand-up comedy at the Woodlawn Tap; and

WHEREAS, Karen Lewis was invaluable to the community and to those who knew her; she will be greatly missed; and

WHEREAS, Karen Lewis is survived by her husband, John Lewis, and her sister, Keli Jennings; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED SECOND GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we mourn the passing of former Chicago Teachers Union President Karen GJ Lewis and extend our sincere condolences to her family, friends, and all who knew and loved her; and be it further

RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to the family of Karen Lewis as an expression of our deepest sympathy.