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Trailblazing former Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis dies at 68
February 19, 2021
12:04 PM CDT
By PAI
Karen Lewis at the microphone alongside members of CTU Local 1 as she announced a tentative contract agreement was reached with Chicago Public Schools to end a strike, Oct. 10, 2016. | Armando L. Sanchez, AP
CHICAGO (PAI)—If you’re looking for who started “Red for Ed,” figuratively if not literally, you’ll find Karen Lewis.
Because it could arguably be said that Lewis, the former President of the Chicago Teachers Union/AFT Local 1, who died in early February at 68 after a long battle with cancer, originated the combination of teacher activism for the kids and for their communities, that unionists in general—and teachers in particular—employed ever since from coast to coast.