CTU President Karen Lewis reacts to judge’s ruling in parent lawsuit in school closing fight
BY CTU COMMUNICATIONS | 07/31/2013
CHICAGO – Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis reacted to today’s ruling by a Cook County judge to deny the request by parents to keep 10 Chicago public elementary schools open:
“Today’s ruling is unfortunate because it allows for the radical experiment that is being conducted on a great number of Chicago’s children by the mayor’s office and the Board of Education to continue,” said CTU President Karen Lewis. “Sadly, we can always count on CPS to use vagueness in the law to protect its actions in disenfranchising children and families,” Lewis said. “If the law isn’t clear, CPS will find that loophole and exploit it—to the detriment of the children and families it should be trying to protect.”
“The district wrote the rules regarding the power given to the hearing officers, and when the officers’ decisions weren’t to their liking, CPS broke its own rules in overturning those decisions and voting to close 50 schools. Under the Illinois School Code, the officers’ ruling should have been final,” Lewis added. ”This unfortunate ruling basically upheld CPS going back on its own word and it does an injustice to the parents of these students.”