Category Archives: In the News

CORE at CPS Budget Hearings

CPS Budget Hearings Teachers, students, parents and community members demonstrated their anger at open budget hearings Tuesday, Aug 18th at Lane Tech HS and Wednesday, Aug 19th at Westinghouse HS. Another hearing will take place tonight, Thursday, Aug 20th, at Corliss HS (821 W 103rd St). Article at Another article at

President-Elect Karen Lewis takes aim at mayoral control and Renaissance 2010

From The Chicago Sun-Times: …[A]s teachers union president, [Karen Lewis] is aiming for the top once again — right for Daley. She has her sights set on the mayor’s piggy bank of tax increment financing funds. She calls his pet education project, Renaissance 2010, “a disaster.” “He’s had 15 years of reform…” “All we ever [...]

Summer of Organizing

Dear Members: In these final days of the school year, make a list of phone numbers and e-mail addresses of teachers at your school. Talk to your students’ parents and get their contact information as well. We need your help in organizing this summer. Download the spreadsheet at the bottom of this post and e-mail [...]

Report from Emergency Board Meeting 6.15.2010

CPS called  an emergency Board meeting on Tuesday, June 15 to pass a resolution that will drastically change our working conditions and the learning opportunities for our students.  The resolution was passed unanimously at the meeting, in spite of every single speaker during the “public participation” portion urging the board members to vote “no.” This [...]

President-Elect Karen Lewis on Chicago Tonight

CORE on Fox News Chicago this morning

…and the winner is,

From Substance News: Karen Lewis has been elected president of the Chicago Teachers Union, and CORE has won the leadership of the 30,000-member CTU by a landslide. Lewis, a Martin Luther King Jr. High School Chemistry teacher, headed the slate of candidates from the caucus called CORE (the Caucus of Rank and File Educators) and [...]

Vote CORE Friday, June 11th!

” …we’re facing thousands of job cuts. This is not an abstraction-this is very real.” Lewis isn’t calling for strikes. Instead, she wants the union to search the board’s books for waste-in vendor contracts as well as central office salaries. CORE has even threatened to take on tax increment financing ….” -Chicago Reader 6/10/2010 Read [...]

Imagine the Power of 30,000

Last minute attempts to look proactive before an election will not make our Union any stronger. CTU members deserve leadership with forethought, integrity, and imagination. CORE’s imagination has allowed us to look beyond business-as-usual failed practices. Although CORE only allows CTU members to vote on official business, we have created coalitions with parents and community [...]

CORE Presidential Candidate Karen Lewis on WGN News

6/8/2010 WGN-9 News