Jersey Jazzman loves Karen Lewis. Me too. (Note the picture at the end of his post.)
She is a larger than life figure who is not only unbossed and unbought, but unbeaten. (I am paraphrasing Shirley Chisholm here, the first black woman to run for President).
Karen explains the importance of collaborating with parents and local communities.
She sees the union as a voice for children.
She is a force of nature.
She is fearless. She is not impressed by the wealthy patrons of corporate reform.
As a graduate of Dartmouth, she too wears the coveted green blazer. She is not intimidated by their airs.
If she went hand-to-hand with Rahm, he wouldn’t stand a chance, neither intellectually nor physically.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Me too. As a Chicagoan (although I now live in a suburb) I am proud of CTU and Karen Lewis for standing up to the bullies who threaten public education.
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On some TV program (CNN I think) the brother of Rahm Emanuel was interviewed. When asked about Rahm, he said something to the effect of “His opponents might as well just give in because he (Rahm) always wins.”
Well, I’m betting on Karen Lewis. Not only will she defeat him, but I believe she’ll destroy his political career.
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Bravo Karen Lewis stand strong!
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Highly recommend that Chicago parents take a page from MLK Jr & Gandhi. Parents should not drop everything and run to the ‘welcoming school’ to register their children. Don’t Go! CPS needs your info more than the parents need them. Routing thousands of children is a Huge Undertaking and the system needs parental data. Don’t Go! They need to make long list of children, request files, form class lists, place teachers, route tons of stuff, set up classes…all during the summer. Don’t Go! G.O. S.L.O.W! Reeeeaaaalllll Slow! Teachers will not be fired. Administrators Do Not want to hold class in August without teachers. Believe me!
Parents have all the power, now! Don’t Go! Wait until you are good and ready to do it. Don’t Go! Remember the Montgomery, AL, Bus Boycott? People were determined to Passively Resist. While parents have time, read Gandhi! MLK did and learned.
Powerful!
Remember, Don’t Go! Not this week, not next week….take your T.I.M.E!
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I like your idea!!! Withhold that which is needed for the closures and transfers!! Wish I lived in Chicago so I could help organize families to RESIST!
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I would love to see Karen Lewis as US Secretary of Education …
can you envision that??
Talk about revival of a beaten down profession…that would do it.
Activism would soar.
I have to believe that deep in his soul, President Obama has to admire her, even if from a distance, for her commitment to minority communities and families.
It has to tug at his heart . .
( I know it’s just a wild dream…but I needed to dream it today)
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How about Elizabeth Warren – President, Kirsten Gillibrand – Vice President, and Karen Lewis – Secretary of Education? Now THAT would be something.
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That is the perfect combination!
Those highly intelligent, powerful women would be a tremendous force for the 1%ers to contend with in our nation.
Our nation would move in the direction of the most successful education system in the world.
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And Paul Krugman for Secretary of the Treasury. Now that would be the politics of HOPE!
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She did great in Chris Hayes interview on MSNBC yesterday with professor Pedro from NYU. In a few short minutes they were able to express concerns so gracefully, logically. Chris Hayes was great too! He gets it.
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Karen Lewis and all her supporters as you do not do this by yourself are what we call
“The Bomb.” That is the best. She and her supporters are a well oiled machine working for a common goal and it is a beautiful thing to see, even if from afar. Rolm has met his match as Lewis and CTU will not be intimidated. He is now in over his head as CTU has lined up the community with them and Rolm only has the billionaires. He will lose and his DNA says to go down with the ship and he will probably self destruct as all politics is local. CTU just stick to basics and do not give up and you will lead the way for others to take back their schools and to have rational education once again with critical thinking and the arts to lead the way as nothing produces increased student progress than the arts. They make the right and left brains work together for thinking “Outside of the Box.”
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Karen’s anger is probably her best weapon and fuel. So too is it for all of us.
This is a great long fight: we’ve only just begun.
Out with Weingarten. . . in with Lewis.
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We all love Karen Lewis–she truly is an inspiration. However, one thousand Reader’s Digest readers apparently love Bill Gates more. Published in the June issue, the mag took a poll asking for its readers to rank the top 100 most trusted people in America today. Bill and Melinda Gates came in 7th and 9th, respectively. There was a blurb in the article suggesting that “Running a Union Does Not” help win people’s trust. Then in the same paragraph, the article placed Weingarten and Lewis together as scoring “significantly lower than local educators, college professors, and Nobel Prize-winning academics.”
Why would the authors have to even MENTION union leadership in its own paragraph, and so negatively at that? Shame on the Digest for spreading such nonsensical propaganda.
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Could Karen Lewis be the Superman we all been waiting for? A voice of sanity in this wilderness of corporate, privatizing, high stakes testing school “reform”.
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Karen Lewis is the the civil rights leader of our time!
Keep fighting for what is right, Karen!
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