Victory for Chicago Teachers

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The federal court has ruled that Chicago schools Chief Executive Officer Ron Huberman and the Chicago Board of Education violated the First Amendment rights of teachers when Huberman issued an order to principals on March 12, 2010 barring opposition caucuses within the Chicago Teachers Union from distributing election materials and holding meetings about the upcoming CTU election in the city's more than 600 public schools.

In a ten-page decision, U.S. District Judge Amy St. Eve today (March 26, 2010) reviewed the facts and the law in the case of "Deborah Lynch et al v. Ron Huberman et al" and held that Huberman's actions violated the First Amendment rights of teachers and other union members.

"For the foregoing reasons," Judge St. Eve wrote at the end of her ten page decision, "the Court grants Plaintiffs' request for a preliminary injunction. Defendants are prohibited from interfering with (i) Plaintiff's right to organize before and after school meetings in Chicago Public Schools during non-work hours to discuss their cdndidacies for elected union office and (ii) Plaintiff's right to have campaign literature distributed in school facilities, including school mailboxes, before and after school hours."

"This is a huge victory for all CTU members, and for everyone," Deborah Lynch told Substance after hearing about the decision. "The CTU leadership should have joined us in defending the First Amendment rights of union members against what Huberman tried to do." Deborah Lynch served as President of the Chicago Teachers Union from July 2001 through July 2004, when she returned to teaching at Gage Park High School in Chicago following the victory of Marilyn Stewart in a hotly contested election. Lynch is again running for CTU President on the slate of the Pro Active Chicago Teachers and school employees caucus (PACT). The union election is on May 21, 2010.

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