Weingarten Wants Common Core; Lewis Says We're Done
In the spring of 1991, I completed my student teaching at Ascension High School in Gonzales, Louisiana. I taught Lord of the Flies, a creepy novel about the dangers of groupthink.
So often when I think of the United Federation of Teachers (UFT) Unity Caucusmindset of unquestioned (and unquestionable) allegiance to a single position on an issue impacting teachers and the teaching profession, I think of Lord of the Flies.
American Federation of Teachers (AFT) President Randi Weingarten hails from that Unity Caucus mindset, and it has shown itself time and again (and again and again) in her unwavering allegiance to the never-tested, secretly-c0ncocted, corporate-benefiting Common Core State Standards (CCSS).
Then there is Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Karen Lewis.
CTU once had its own Lord of the Flies Unity Caucus. However, according to Lewis, the CTU Unity Caucus died with her re-election in 2013.
I can't imagine Lewis bending to groupthink.
I first came to "know" Lewis through writing my book, A Chronicle of Echoes. The book includes three chapters on the history of mayoral control of education in Chicago. Lewis is a major part of that history.
In February 2014, I had the pleasure of meeting Lewis for the first time during her travels to New Orleans for the AFT Executive Council meeting. We had dinner one evening, and I asked Lewis to dump CCSS. She told me that she needed to act in a manner that supported her constituency, and if her teachers were going to be saddled with CCSS, she would need to support them in that situation, which might include securing teaching materials.
In that conversation, it was clear to me that Lewis listens to and serves her constituency.
I cannot stand CCSS because I know what it is: a business deal designed to benefit Weingarten Wants Common Core; Lewis Says We're Done | Mercedes Schneider: