Posts tagged Chicago Teachers Union
Chicago Teachers Union bosses make a lot more than members. Little of members’ dues pay for representation. See who makes what, here.
October 23, 2025 // More than 50 CTU officers and employees made $100,000 or more in the 2025 fiscal year. To put that in context, the median salary in Chicago is $65,250. The average Chicago teacher made $86,439 during the 2023-2024 school year. Not even 18% of CTU’s spending in its 2025 fiscal year was on representing teachers – what is supposed to be its core focus. That’s according to the union’s own numbers.
Chicago Teachers Union undermines yet another charter school
October 10, 2025 // There are currently 559 students enrolled in ChiArts, according to the district’s enrollment report for fall 2025. Four-in-five students are Black or Hispanic. Last year, the Acero Schools charter network announced it was closing seven of its 15 schools. As with ChiArts, CTU made a show of claiming it supported the parents and students affected by the closing of the seven Acero schools after its actions to hurt the school staffing, flexibility and ability to plan. Ultimately, CPS board members – appointed by CTU crony Mayor Brandon Johnson – voted to transition five of the Acero schools into district-run schools by the 2026-2027 school year. The absorbed schools will no longer be charters.
Parental Rights Groups Rip Teachers Union Bosses Boycotting Target Instead Of Helping Kids
September 4, 2025 // Weingarten stated the union “rarely engage[s] in this type of action, but we’re doing so here because Target betrayed promises to communities of color throughout the United States.” However, a recent report from Defending Education (DE) found that AFT has funneled millions of dollars in membership dues toward political activism, including to organizations such as the Trevor Project, an organization that supports “affirming” gender-confused children.
Labor Day 2025: More protests than parades and picnics
August 20, 2025 // But the biggest blowout, organizers hope, is going to be on Labor Day itself. Local events can be found at MayDayStrong.org. There is also a toolkit for event hosts and organizers to coordinate their actions. The organizers hope to exceed the estimated five million people who hit the streets on No Kings Day back in April. The key demands at all the protests will be: “stop the billionaire takeover and rampant corruption of the Trump administration, protect and defend Medicaid, Social Security, and other programs for working people,” plus “fully funded schools, and healthcare and housing for all.” Marchers will also demand the Trump regime “stop the attacks on immigrants, Black, indigenous, trans people, and all our communities and invest in people, not wars.”
It’s been 1,805 days since Chicago Teachers Union’s last “annual audit”
August 19, 2025 // The Chicago Teachers Union is required by its own internal rules to provide an audit of its finances every year. But it hasn’t done so since September 9, 2020. That means it’s been 1,805 days since the union released an “annual” audit. After unsuccessfully seeking the required audits from the union, a group of CTU members filed suit on Oct. 8, 2024. CTU tried to get the lawsuit tossed out, but the judge rejected its request. The court noted the union didn’t even dispute failing to provide the required audits.
Illinois teachers can opt out of unions in August. Here’s why they should.
July 30, 2025 // Just 15% to 26% of Illinois teachers union spending was on representing teachers in 2024. But public education employees can opt out of union membership and keep their hard-earned money.
Chicago school board OKs $139M to fund new teacher contract, launches equity initiatives
April 27, 2025 // “We’re doing everything we can to shield as much as we can, as we plan for the upcoming budget season,” said Ben Felton, the district’s chief talent officer, in a presentation touting the CPS teacher recruitment process to board members. “But maintaining staffing levels will require additional revenue, and there’s no disillusionment around that.” To address disparities that persist between Black students and other student groups in terms of discipline, academic achievement and access to rigorous academic courses and extracurricular activities, the school board passed a resolution codifying its Black Student Achievement Committee, chaired by board member Jitu Brown, of District 6, on the city’s West Side.
Chicago teachers reach contract deal for the first time in more than a decade without a strike
April 15, 2025 // For the first time in over a decade, Chicago’s public school teachers have a new contract without a strike or threat of a walkout. The four-year agreement includes pay hikes, hiring more teachers and class size limits.
Chicago teachers vote on deal to bring average salary to over $114,000 per year
April 12, 2025 // “It’s estimated to cost around $1.5 billion, and Johnson has said he doesn’t have a plan yet to pay for it,” Smith told The Center Square. CPS teachers currently have an average salary of more than $93,000 per year. If they approve the tentative agreement, the number would rise to $114,429 by the end of the contract. Smith said teachers can expect to pay more in dues to CTU. “When government unions like Chicago Teachers Union are advocating for higher salaries for teachers and for other school employees, what they are really advocating for is a higher dues amount coming from that employee, because every time they score a win in the raise category, that means they are also going to be taking more money out of that person’s paycheck,” Smith said.
CTU contract: Union’s tentative agreement with CPS will cost $1.5 billion; how will the city pay?
April 3, 2025 // The Civic Federation weighed in on the budget back-and-forth Tuesday. "That's the million-dollar question — or rather, the hundreds-of-millions-of-dollars question," the Civic Federation sad in a statement. "As of now, we don't have any further insight into how CPS plans to pay for the contract beyond the first year." Mayor Brandon Johnson was asked about that $175 million pension payment. "The contract is paid for by a separate entity of government, the Chicago Public Schools. And that, in part, is the responsibility of the CEO to be able to come up with mechanisms to be able to satisfy that," said Mayor Johnson. Martinez's suggestion to cover the pension payment is a tax levy.