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NEWS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 23, 2013

CONTACT:

Stephanie Gadlin 312/329-6250 StephanieGadlin@ctulocal1.com

CTU President Karen Lewis to speak at West Side closing school


CHICAGOChicago Teachers Union (CTU) President Karen Lewis will address members of the Matthew A. Henson Elementary School community in Lawndale today during a press conference prior to a unity rally and balloon launch in support of the school. Henson is among the 54 schools Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is targeting for closure this year, and residents are concerned whether the proposed closure is part of a larger plan by the mayors office and the Chicago Board of Education to consolidate the powerful influence of the non-profit teaching organization the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL) and corner the real estate market around Douglas Park. The people at the Board look like real people, but they are being controlled by outside, corporate forces that have infiltrated our education system and are trying to destroy it from the inside out, said Valerie Leonard, a lifelong resident of North Lawndale and co-founder of community group the Lawndale Alliance. Henson has been a vibrant part of the community since it was built in the 1960s, and is everything a community school should be, Leonard said. WHO: WHAT: CTU President Karen Lewis, Matthew Henson Elementary Local School Council (LSC), elected officials, parents, students and community and education advocates. Henson LSC press conference in advance of unity rally and balloon launch, followed by a review of district rationale for closing the school by parents and local stakeholders, and testimony for keeping the school open. Today, April 23 at 4:00 p.m. Matthew Henson Elementary School 1326 South Avers Avenue Chicago, Illinois 60623 CPS plans to close Henson and shuffle students to Charles Evans Hughes Elementary, yet the district has no plans for the Henson building. And although CPS has stated that the receiving school is Hughes, the new attendance boundaries will, in fact, direct more Henson students to Herzl, a turnaround school managed by the AUSL. A number of AUSL board members are venture capitalists and invest in real estate and other projects. After the proposed closures and consolidation of schools, AUSL will assume the majority of the current Henson attendance boundaries. They will also control all of the schools in and around Douglas Park, including Johnson and Chalmers elementary schools, and Collins High School. Residents question the independence of the decisions being made, given the fact that CPS Board President David Vitale is the former AUSL board chairman, and Tim Cawley, CPS Chief Administrative Officer, is a former AUSL executive. The big winner in all of this is AUSL, Leonard said. ### The Chicago Teachers Union represents 30,000 teachers and educational support personnel working in the Chicago Public Schools, and by extension, the more than 400,000 students and families they serve. The CTU is an affiliate of the American Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Federation of Teachers and is the third largest teachers local in the United States and the largest local union in Illinois. For more information please visit CTUs website at www.ctunet.com. SG:oteg-743-tr

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