August 31, 2006. Gage Park High School teacher Deborah Lynch (above, right) leads pickets outside the school protesting the Board of Education’s decision to force Gage Park to become overcrowded. Lynch has noted recently that security problems across the city have been caused by Board policies. Schmidt photo.

 

    But Stewart’s refusal to debate the issues as April turned to May and the crucial election (to be held May 18) loomed was part of a strategy that was being followed by Stewart’s United Progressive Caucus (UPC) to win the vote count and retain control of the union by avoiding the major issues and confining their political campaigning to situations completely under their own control.

    After the April meeting of the union’s House of Delegates, the union’s members were informed that the May 18 voting would pit former CTU President Deborah Lynch, currently a special education teacher at Gage Park High School, against Stewart, who served as a special education teacher at Kinzie Elementary School until her 2001 victory over ousted Lynch from the union presidency. Lynch’s PACT (Pro Active Chicago Teachers) caucus had ousted the UPC three years earlier, in a hotly contested election in May 2001. CTU elects its officers and executive board members every three years.

    Stewart’s campaign against Lynch began virtually the day Stewart took office at the union’s spacious Merchandise Mart headquarters after a dramatic runoff election in June 2004 and vote challenges that lasted throughout July 2004.

August 31, 2006. Teachers Bernice Eshoo (left), Deborah Lynch (center) and Susan Steinmiller (right) pause during picketing outside Gage Park High School. Eshoo, who at the time was librarian at Lincoln Park High School, had joined Gage Park teachers’ protest. Teachers, parents, and community leaders called the picket to protest the overcrowding of Gage Park, ordered by Chicago CEO Arne Duncan. A week earlier, Duncan had fired Gage Park Principal Martin McGreal for refusing to overcrowd Gage Park while nearby schools such as Lindblom (which this year also included a charter school) have dozens of empty rooms. The CTU leadership of ignored the Gage Park problem during the entire school year until it was featured in April 2007 in a full-page story in the Chicago Sun-Times. The Gage Park story is also being followed by WBEZ radio in Chicago, thanks to the protests of the teachers, parents, and students. Photo by George N. Schmidt.

    In June 2005, Stewart’s lieutenants attempted to have Lynch arrested at a union meeting (see Substance, September 2006, at www.substance news.com). The UPC strategy has been to utilize every mechanism of the union to promote their candidates, while constantly claiming that every problem in the schools is the fault of Lynch. Stewart has refused to speak with Substance or be interviewed by Substance despite a standing request since she took office (also documented on the website).