The following is a statement by Kyle Olson, CEO of Education Action Group:
On Monday morning, Education Action Group released a video of Karen Lewis' ridiculous remarks before a group of teachers in Seattle.
Our intent was to demonstrate for Chicago residents the type of negative influences that exist in Chicago Public Schools, particularly in the leadership of the teachers union.
We have not and will not call on Lewis to resign. If her fellow union members don't do that, we have to wonder whether they really have the best interests of their students in mind, and are truly committed to setting a positive example for kids.
To their credit, teachers and union leaders throughout the nation have recently been focusing on the nagging problem of bullying in public schools. They correctly tell youngsters that picking on those who are different or less fortunate is wrong.
Then Lewis chose to become a bully herself by publicly insulting U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan regarding his speech impediment. No teacher would tolerate that sort of behavior in a classroom. Why would they tolerate it from the president of their union?
Lewis went on to set another bad example by joking about her marijuana use in college. Making light of illegal substance abuse sends a very twisted message to youngsters, and she apparently knew there were kids in the audience at the conference in Seattle.
In her press conference today, Lewis seemed to suggest that she made her controversial statements as a private citizen, not a union official. But she was addressing the Seattle conference as the president of the Chicago Teachers Union. Anything she said was bound to reflect on the CTU.
Lewis brought this kerfuffle upon herself with her comments. In its explanation, the CTU claimed EAG took her comments "out of context." It also smeared us as a "right-wing anti-public education organization."
Out of context? Lewis said what she said, and we simply distributed the video nationwide for all to see. The fact that so many media outlets chose to show the video, or report about it, demonstrates a general feeling of disgust regarding her remarks.
The video originally surfaced because I'm currently producing a short documentary film with Fox News analyst and former NPR reporter Juan Williams on the fight for school choice in Chicago. The day Williams interviewed Mayor Emanuel, he also sought one with Lewis. The union declined.
In order to accurately reflect the union's position on education reform efforts, we searched YouTube for videos of Lewis. We found the one with the controversial comments and released it to the general media.
Public education in Chicago is in dire straits. Lewis' snide attacks on people like Secretary Duncan, who want to help fix the system, only underlines the fact that the unions have no interest in reforming and improving public schools. They see reform as a threat to their status atop the education establishment, and they resent what they consider interference from leaders like Duncan.
That resentment came through all too clearly in Lewis' remarks.
It's up to rank-and-file members of the CTU to decide if someone like Lewis should remain the face of their organization going forward. Her ability to remain in office will say a lot about the priorities of the union.
