Teachers union president says Mayor Emanuel ‘exploded’ at her
BY ROSALIND ROSSI Education Reporter/rrossi@suntimes.com September 9, 2011 11:44AM
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis said Friday that Mayor Rahm Emanuel "exploded" at her during a meeting about a longer school day for Chicago Public Schools.
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Updated: September 10, 2011 6:30AM
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis says Mayor Rahm Emanuel “exploded” at her during a conversation in his office about his signature longer-school-day effort, pointing his finger at her, yelling and telling her, “F--- you, Lewis.”
“I just want to call it immense disrespect for me and the Chicago Teachers Union,’’ Lewis told the Chicago Sun-Times Friday. “I didn’t appreciate the way he talked to me.
“My father never talked to me like that. My husband’s never talked to me like that.”
Emanuel — long known for his salty rants — would not go into specifics Friday about the exchange, and said the meeting weeks ago ended with a hug from Lewis.
“I’m not going to get into a he-said, she-said. We had a good meeting. It was not a long meeting.