Karen Lewis

Karen Lewis (née Jennings; July 20, 1953 – February 7, 2021) 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. For nearly 20 years before becoming president of the teachers union, she was a high school chemistry teacher.

Early life

Karen Jennings was born on July 20, 1953, in Chicago's South Side to a family of teachers. She attended Kenwood High School, but left after her junior year to attend Mount Holyoke College. Lewis said Mount Holyoke "taught [her] you can do anything [...] to use your mind well [...] to express yourself." She transferred to Dartmouth College in 1972, when Dartmouth became the last Ivy League institution to become co-educational, and was the only African-American woman in the class of 1974. 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." She graduated with a degree in sociology and music. After graduation, she married Arnold Glenn and moved to Oklahoma; the couple later divorced. She then earned a Master of Arts degree in inner city studies from Northeastern Illinois University.

Career

For nearly 20 years, she worked as a chemistry teacher, beginning as a substitute before being hired full-time at Sullivan High School. She later worked for Lane Tech College Prep High School and King College Prep, and said she "measured my success as a teacher by the hugs at the end of the year, by the conversations with kids who say, 'I never thought of it that way.'" In 2001, she married John Lewis, also a Chicago teacher, and the couple lived together in Bronzeville.