Chicago School Closings-Largest in US History

Diane Ravitch, Mark Naison, Karen Lewis, Randi Weingarten
Never in U.S. history has a local school board - or any other board, appointed or elected - chosen to close 49 public schools. School closings are part and parcel of a strategy for remaking the American metropolis and will further cement economic inequality. "Today is a day of mourning for the children of Chicago. Their education has been hijacked by an unrepresentative, unelected corporate school board. Closing schools is not an education plan."

Charter Teachers Unionize, Charters - The Truth, Moratorium on Standardized Testing

Dan Mihalopoulos, Frank Pepper, Randi Weingarten
Teachers at one of Chicago's largest charter- school networks - run by the United Neighborhood Organization - have voted to organize into a union. Public school teacher, responds to question - what is behind charter schools. Idea of a motivated community of adults - parents, teachers, administrators - creating a unique school from the ground up, designed to serve that particular community - are not charter schools. AFT calls for moratorium on Common Core testing.

labor

Chicago Teachers Union Members To Run Against CTU President Karen Lewis' Leadership Team

Noreen S. Ahmed-Ullah and Ellen Jean Hirst Chicago Tribune
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis successfully tapped into the wrath of frustrated members and took on Mayor Rahm Emanuel last September when she led the city's first teachers strike in 25 years. On Tuesday, a group of union members said Lewis didn't leverage the strike to get enough from the district — including a guarantee not to close schools — and announced a slate of candidates that will try to unseat Lewis and her team in a regular election set for May
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