[Congressional Record Volume 167, Number 26 (Thursday, February 11, 2021)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E126]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              HONORING THE LIFE AND LEGACY OF KAREN LEWIS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. BOBBY L. RUSH

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, February 11, 2021

  Mr. RUSH. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commemorate and celebrate 
the life of a fierce and unyielding champion of Chicago's students, 
Karen Lewis.
  A native of Chicago's South Side and daughter of Chicago Public 
School teachers, Lewis attended Chicago Public Schools until her early 
admission to Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts. Lewis would then 
make history at an early age, when she transferred to Dartmouth College 
and was the only African-American woman in her 1974 graduating class.
  Returning to Chicago soon after her graduation from Dartmouth, Lewis 
began as a substitute chemistry teacher for Chicago Public Schools. Her 
intellect and commitment to her students earned Lewis a full-time 
teaching role, which she would hold for nearly two decades, enriching 
the lives and minds of students across the city. During her time as a 
chemistry teacher, Lewis taught at Lane Tech College Prep, Sullivan 
High School, and finally King College Prep in the Kenwood neighborhood, 
just blocks from her childhood home.
  By 2008, Lewis had become a union delegate, bringing her energy and 
grit to the fight against school closures that would affect some of 
Chicago's most vulnerable students. Realizing that teachers and 
students faced increasing class sizes, school closures, and a budget 
crisis, Lewis put her bold vision forward and became the president of 
the Chicago Teacher's Union in 2010. In the face of many in Chicago's 
power structure calling for schools to be closed and protections to be 
stripped from dedicated educators, Lewis powerfully put forward a new 
vision for the city's public school, entitled The Schools Chicago's 
Students Deserve. With this vision, Lewis sought to narrow the often 
vast differences between what Chicago's teachers and students needed to 
be successful and what they actually received from Chicago Public 
Schools.
  Madam Speaker, in September 2012, Karen Lewis rose to national 
prominence when she led the first teacher's strike in Chicago in a 
quarter century. Tackling a new mayoral administration that sought to 
lay off teachers in exchange for raises, Lewis led a labor movement 
whose tactics would be studied around the country as a model for 
successful organized labor. The nine days Karen Lewis led the Chicago 
Teachers Union on strike were instrumental in winning concessions that 
included a robust pay raise and fairer evaluation of classroom 
performance. The next year, teachers in Los Angeles used the tactics 
pioneered by Lewis to gain critical concessions from the city for their 
students and teachers. In 2018, West Virginia teachers used the Lewis 
play book during their strike. The 2012 Chicago teachers' strike has 
been described as having ``changed the future of organizing.''
  So great was the appreciation of Lewis's bold and unrelenting fight 
for Chicago's teachers and students that many in the city believed that 
she would make an exceptional mayor. Sadly, in 2014, Lewis received the 
life-altering diagnosis of glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain 
cancer. True to the fighter she was, Lewis carried on her fearless 
advocacy after her diagnosis, continuing on as president of the Chicago 
Teacher's Union until 2018.
  Madam Speaker, Karen Lewis passed away on February 7th at the age of 
67. With her death, Chicago and the nation have lost an icon and a 
treasure. My deepest sympathies lie with her husband, John, and all of 
her close family and friends during this challenging time.

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