Chicago Teachers Union President Blames Woes on Class, Race

The Chicago School system is rapidly collapsing. Its graduation rate is a horrid 56 percent, its finances are in tatters, and even though the Chicago Teachers Union was offered a 10 to 15 percent raise, CTU officials still want to strike claiming it isn’t enough. So, what went wrong? CTU President says it’s all because of Chicago’s “lower class students” and “students of color.”

CTU President Karen Lewis recently took part in a strategy conference call with community organizer Jitu Brown, and retired professor and Bill Ayers associate Mike Klonsky. In the released audio of the conference call, CTU President Lewis tries to address the reason for the Chicago Public School System’s woes.

{snip}

I have seen the profession of teaching go from one in which it was considered, um, very prestigious to one that is constantly ridiculed, and, um, basically, uh, discarded and we feel, by and large, it’s due to the fact that we serve, um, a predominantly, uh, working, and uh, and quite frankly lower class students, uh, and students of color.

{snip}