Posts tagged CTU
Chicago Teachers Seek Billions in Special Session for “What We Are Owed”
June 25, 2026 // The teacher unions funded Democratic campaigns and Democratic politicians then sign off on windfall union contracts without forcing any improvements for the actual students. For these students, the system borders on the criminal. Rather than actually improve their educational results, the Chicago teachers (like unions and administrators in other cities) have lowered their proficiency standards.
Pritzker gets his school cell phone ban bill despite CTU opposition
June 23, 2026 // While acknowledging that “phones can be distracting,” the CTU opposes the measure because phones can be “lifelines for students” who fear immigration enforcement. But that’s arguably covered by one of the exceptions districts can detail in their emergency and crisis response plans. The union also called the bill itself a distraction, that noting managing phones already “is part of the daily work” of educators. With just 2-in-5 Chicago Public Schools students reading at grade level and about 1-in-4 doing math proficiently, maybe the CTU shouldn’t get distracted itself by a cell phone law.
Commentary: Why Are Union Officials So Comfortable Stealing From Their Own Members?
June 8, 2026 // That’s why we’re highlighting legislation like Iowa Senate File 472, championed by Iowa State Senator Adrian Dickey. The legislation requires public-sector unions to obtain affirmative consent from workers before deducting union dues from their paychecks and to renew that authorization on a regular basis. Workers must actively opt in rather than being treated as automatic revenue sources. The measure strengthens transparency, reinforces worker choice, and ensures unions maintain the support of the people whose paychecks fund them. Organizations that serve their members well have nothing to fear from accountability. Accountability strengthens trust. It forces leaders to remain responsive to the people they represent. Union members deserve the same protections, transparency, and financial safeguards that shareholders expect from corporations and taxpayers expect from government.
Chicago teachers want no school on May Day, testing the city’s mayor and school leaders
April 12, 2026 // “What our students need, and what history teaches us is the only thing that works, is educators, labor unions, and community groups standing together to defend each other and our democracy and demand that the government put our families over their fortunes,” the CTU said in a statement. This week, Macquline King, the newly-named district CEO, said she had no plans to cancel class.
Why Chicago Teachers Union’s $7.3B tax hike will hurt all of Illinois
May 18, 2025 // The Illinois Revenue Alliance, a group which includes the Chicago Teachers Union, has released a proposal to impose nine tax increases and hike statewide taxes by $7.3 billion annually. Some of CTU’s ideas are likely illegal and tax all Illinoisans for the union’s excesses. The Chicago Teachers Union has released a new proposal that calls for nine new tax hikes that would increase statewide taxes by $7.3 billion.
Chicago Teachers Union secures clean energy wins in new contract
April 22, 2025 // If approved, the contract will result in new programs that prepare students for clean energy jobs, developed in collaboration with local labor unions. It mandates that district officials work with the teachers union to seek funding for clean energy investments and update a climate action plan by 2026. And it calls for installing heat pumps and outfitting 30 schools with solar panels — if funding can be secured. The Southeast Environmental Task Force led the successful fight to ban new petcoke storage in Chicago, and the group’s co-executive director Olga Bautista is also vice president of the 21-member school board. People for Community Recovery was founded by Hazel Johnson, who is often known as “the mother of the environmental justice movement.” And ONE Northside emphasizes the link between clean energy and affordable housing.
Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says there is no reason for a teachers’ strike to happen
March 20, 2025 // Local News Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson says there is no reason for a teachers' strike to happen chicago By Adam Harrington, Sabrina Franza, Jacob Sarracino Updated on: March 19, 2025 / 10:49 PM CDT / CBS Chicago Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson met with officials from the Chicago Public Schools and Chicago Teachers Union Wednesday, and afterward called for finding a compromise and avoiding a teachers' strike. The mayor met Wednesday with CPS Chief Executive Officer Pedro Martinez, Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates, and Ald. Jason Ervin (28th), head of the City Council Budget Committee.
CTU rejects fact-finder, moves closer to strike
February 11, 2025 // It supports CPS' proposed 4% to 5% annual raises, plus CTU's proposals to add 90 new librarians hired by 2029 and more family engagement coordinators, Chalkbeat reports. Yes but: It does not weigh in on CTU demands for revamping teacher evaluations and more teacher prep time through enrichment classes like art or music. Meanwhile: The Service Employees International Union's (SEIU) Illinois council this month declared itself under attack by the CTU under current CTU contract proposals, the Tribune reports.
Commentary: Ability to Read, Write, or Do Math Is No Longer Required to Teach in New Jersey
January 7, 2025 // Teachers’ unions prevail in New Jersey. Kids will suffer.
Chicago Teachers Union took over Acero charter schools to stifle parents’ rights
December 28, 2024 // The Chicago Teachers Union played a long game with Acero charter schools: unionizing them, undermining them and then taking them over. Now students and parents are left without the charter schools they chose.