Chicago Union News: Field taking shape against Stewart in 2010 CTU election

Field taking shape against Stewart in 2010 CTU election

(POSTED: 10/26/09) The election for Chicago Teachers Union officers is more than six months away, but five candidates already are gearing up for a run against President Marilyn Stewart (pictured here) -- including her own treasurer.

CTU Treasurer Linda Porter, once part of Stewart's team that was elected in 2004 and again in 2007, has split ways with the United Progressive Caucus and announced her candidacy with the Coalition for a Strong Democratic Union.

Stewart "told me that if I could do it better, then I should run against her," said Porter, a union member since 1979 (who is shown at left.)

Porter joined CSDU when it was formed in 2007 by ousted Vice President Ted Dallas. Although she holds the position as treasurer for the remainder of the term, her duties have been stripped amid allegations of financial wrongdoing within the caucus.

Porter said that it was a political matter and had nothing to do with her job for the union. "I haven't done anything wrong. If I misappropriated money or if I stole money, I would have been arrested," she said.

Porter, 56, is on leave from Nicholson Elementary School where she taught physical education. Her running mate is Jack Moran, a 58-year-old music teacher at Beaubien Elementary School who has been a member of CTU for more than 30 years and served as a delegate for 18 years. The two stand on a platform for more job protection for teachers, and paraprofessional and school-related personnel.

Former CTU President Deborah Lynch, who served from 2001 to 2004, will vie to regain the position after a close -- and controversial -- loss in the 2004 election and another loss in 2007. Stewart defeated Lynch in a run-off in 2004 by a narrow margin, which was followed by charges of vote fraud against Stewart. The American Federation of Teachers came in to declare Stewart the winner.

Lynch (shown at right) believes this upcoming election -- to be held in May -- won't be as difficult as the past.

Stewart "is vulnerable to the election challenges this year because people are dissatisfied," Lynch said, citing budget woes and job losses from the past five years.

Lynch, 57, represents ProActive Chicago Teachers and School Employees, which has been active since 1995 and has around 450 members. She is a special education teacher and union delegate at Gage Park High School. Josephine Perry, from Tanner Elementary School, will be the candidate for vice president on PACT's slate.

Another challenger from the 2004 election, Marcia Williams, has launched a campaign for the presidency again -- feeling more prepared this time around. In 2004, Williams and her team from the Independent Caucus decided to run only a month before petitions were due. To her surprise, they got nearly 10 percent of the vote. The Independent Caucus, with around 40 members, left the public light after that election but banded together again last year to give union members an alternative to Stewart and Lynch.

Williams, a kindergarten teacher at Jensen Academy (shown at right), said she wants to see more support for teachers, especially those who have been displaced by school closings.

"This is a job that is day and night, seven days a week, 24 hours a day that we have on our minds," she said. "It's a disservice to us when we hear comments that teachers are just sitting around not doing anything. . . . We know how to relate to teachers and we know how to get our message out."

Williams, 48, has been a CTU member for 22 years and a delegate for 16. The vice presidential candidate in her slate is 36-year-old Kyle VanEenenaam, a special education teacher at Jensen and nine-year union member.

A new group formed in the spring of 2008 -- the Caucus of Rank and File Educators -- will name its slate this winter after holding an internal election. Around 250 CORE members nominated Karen Lewis, a chemistry teacher at King College Prep, and Jay Rehak (shown to left), an English teacher at Whitney Young High School, for president.

Whoever takes the slate will make the fight against privatization a top priority.

"I think as a result of not fighting those initial closings, we are at a point where it is getting out of control," said Jackson Potter, a vice presidential nominee who was also the delegate at Englewood High School when it closed.

"There has to be a change in the focus," said Lewis, 56 (shown to the left.) "The way things were done 30 or 40 years ago, it's impalpable. We cannot continue along those lines."

Rosemaria Genova, Stewart's spokeswoman, said the president intends on running for re-election in 2010 with the UPC. She acknowledged the challenges the union has faced with charter schools and job losses, but Genova said they are most proud of the benefits gained from Stewart's contract.

"Every other union in Chicago is taking cutbacks, taking furlough days and we are lucky that we had a good contract to fight this," Genova said. "We've had a 4 percent [salary] increase for five years, and that's during a recession."

Genova also said that the leadership of the UPC has the experience necessary for running the 32,000-member union and $26 million business.

"Yes, it's going to be a tough election. In the end I think the members will stay with her," Genova said. "This is not the time to go changing direction."

By Katie Drews, for ChicagoUnionNews
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