This is an accepted version of this page Karen Lewis (née Jennings;[2][3] July 20, 1953 – February 7, 2021)[4][5][6] was an American educator and labor leader who served as president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), Chicago's division of the American Federation of Teachers, from 2010 to 2014.

[8] However, she said at Dartmouth "it was clear that women weren't wanted" and called the university "a really bad experience for me, but it made me stronger.

[13] For nearly 20 years, she worked as a chemistry teacher, beginning as a substitute before being hired full-time at Sullivan High School.

[9] In 2010, Lewis, running with the Caucus of Rank and File Educators (CORE), gained control over the CTU by winning 60 percent of the vote in a run-off election.

[16] CORE quickly took action to distinguish itself from UPC, reaffirm its grassroots support, and launch a campaign to defend public education.

[17] CORE represented a major bloc of dissent at the 2012 AFT convention, and held signs in protest of Race to the Top during a speech from Vice President Joe Biden.

[19] Lewis was re-elected as CTU president for a second three-year term in 2013, and a similar but smaller walkout occurred in 2016.

[23] Following her retirement, Lewis was praised by Chicago mayor Rahm Emanuel, a longtime political enemy, who nevertheless said they had "grown to admire each other as friends.

She bowed to no one, and gave strength to tens of thousands of Chicago Teachers Union educators who followed her lead, and who live by her principles to this day,"[29] and the union told The New York Times that she "dazzled you with her smile, yet could stare down the most powerful enemies of public education and defend our institution with a force rarely seen in organized labor.