By Nick Gale, WLS-AM 890 News
(CHICAGO) — Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis has submitted her retirement papers. They were filed Friday.
Lewis tells the Chicago Tribune that, “I want my members to know first that I’m not abandoning them ….I will be around to help do things, I’m not disappearing anywhere.”
In a statement Friday, Mayor Rahm Emanuel said, “I’ve seen firsthand the tenacity and drive that makes Karen Lewis a worthy advocate for Chicago children and teachers, and we’ve grown to admire each other as a friends. Karen may be stepping down from her position at CTU, but I know she’ll never stop fighting for Chicago’s children.”
Lewis was elected CTU president in 2010 after teaching high school chemistry for 22 years.
She was hospitalized earlier this month to undergo brain surgery. She was diagnosed with an aggressive form of brain cancer in 2014 and had a tumor removed. The diagnosis left her to drop out of the mayoral race.
Last year she was hospitalized for a stroke.
Her final day on the job has yet to be announced.
Copyright 2018 WLS-AM News
