Ed deformers running stooge against Karen Lewis in next election?
Chicago Teachers Union elections are not until May 17th. Tanya Saunders-Wolffe is the candidate of the United Progressive Caucus (UPC). The last UPC candidate, the incumbent Marilyn Stewart, was tossed out of office by Karen Lewis and the CORE caucus in the last election...
What may surprise some is the support Saunders-Wolfe is receiving from Debbie Lynch and her ProActive Chicago Teachers (PACT) caucus. Debbie Lynch, who was at one time perceived by some as a union reformer, was rejected by the membership after just one term. Why did many rank-and-file members express their dissatisfaction with Lynch? I believe it was due to Lynch’s overly-collaborative approach to then-CPS schools boss Arne Duncan’s so-called reform efforts at the expense of service to members and defense of the bargaining agreement.
Lynch has now signed up to be part of the Coalition to Save Our Union alongside of the UPC. Save the union? Or hand it over to Rahm and the Civic Committee?
Lynch is no longer a teacher and cannot run herself. But her history in the union’s national bureaucracy is long, including strong ties to the national leadership of the AFT going all the way back to her training at the union’s Albert Shanker Institute. It kind of makes me wonder what or who is motivating her?
As for the UPC caucus, I have already reported that I have heard whispers that Rahm and his pals in the Civic Committee were fishing for a candidate to run against Lewis and the CORE caucus-endorsed candidates. Even to the point of putting some cash on the end of that fishing line. Now I hear that Saunders-Wolfe, or her supporters, are looking to buy some TV ad time. A teacher union candidate doing a TV ad buy? Two months before the election? Where is the money for all this coming from?
http://preaprez.wordpress.com/2013/02/21/the-chicago-teachers-union-election-is-not-until-may-but-the-coalition-of-snakes-appears-well-funded/#comments