It looks like the president of the Chicago Teachers Union doesn’t think much of her state’s attempt to assist with the building of the Barack Obama presidential library. Instead, they need to secure jobs for government school librarians.
EAGnews.org reports:
Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis apparently doesn’t care very much for the Obama Presidential Library.
Preserving the jobs of educational support personnel and others the city doesn’t need should be the top priority, Lewis said in a rambling union statement issued yesterday.
In her screed against layoffs, school turnaround plans, and charter schools that are outperforming the city’s unionized public schools, Lewis implied the presidential library is an unnecessary waste, and the money would be much better spent on public school librarians.
“With this latest round of layoffs— the fourth time in the past five years in which we have seen summer layoffs in excess of 1,000—and the hundreds of positions lost at the three schools slated for turnaround this year, Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his Board continue their war on our educators by doing nothing to salvage school budgets other than forcing principals to terminate valued teachers and staff,” Lewis said.
“This decision further demonstrates the disdain for public education and the lack of leadership and vision for the city from our mayor and his handpicked Board. Do we want ‘Star Wars’ museums or public, neighborhood schools? Do we want presidential libraries or librarians for every child?”
Read more here.
