Teachers rally for contract; Lewis calls Emanuel ‘liar and bully’

Original article in the Chicago Sun-Times by David Roeder and Fran Spielman.

Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis, rallying her troops as a potential teachers strike approaches, called Mayor Rahm Emanuel a “liar and a bully” during a huge Labor Day rally at Daley Plaza.

...Barring an 11th-hour agreement, Chicago teachers are scheduled to walk off the job on Monday for the first time since 1987.

They authorized a strike by a 90 percent vote fueled by their anger against a mayor who stripped them of a previously-negotiated, four percent pay raise and tried to rush implementation of his signature plan for a longer school day and school year without consulting teachers about what that longer day should look like.

To read the complete article, visit the Chicago Sun-Times.