Posts tagged Illinois Education Association
Educator urges Illinois teachers to reject union pressure, politics and coercion
August 7, 2025 // Sarah Fletcher, a former charter school educator and now the Head of School at White Horse Academy, a private school, said her own teaching career trajectory was shaped by a desire to avoid union involvement altogether. “When we moved here to Illinois from Arizona, I had very little interest in teaching at the public school,” Fletcher said. “Part of that was because I didn’t want to be pressured into or have to be mandated to pay dues. The IEA and IFT, which are part of larger organizations like the NEA, use the majority of their funds not to represent teachers, but for political advocacy.”
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.
Nearly 1 in 3 Illinois school contracts mislead teachers about fees they owe
June 18, 2025 // Seven years after they were freed from being forced to pay unions, at least 267 of Illinois’ 866 school districts still have “fair share” language in their teachers union contracts. Those contracts are wrong and should be fixed so teachers get the truth about their pay.
IEA study: Nearly 3 of 5 teachers weigh leaving classroom
October 23, 2024 // With more than 4,000 teaching positions across the state being unfilled as recently as the 2023-24 school year, Bailey, who challenged Pritzker as the GOP nominee in 2022, said it’s clear what needs to happen. “It's time for government to get out of education and let the local school boards decide how they want their children educated,” he said. “That’s the only process that will work and that's how this was set up in the very beginning.”
Commentary: Union power in Illinois: Shrinking membership and surging political clout
October 18, 2024 // On their face, the slow decline of the unionization rate in the Illinois workforce and the obstacles to public sector unionization created by the Janus decision could raise questions about the long-term viability of the labor movement in Illinois. But a closer look shows labor unions in Illinois are politically stronger than ever.
NEA, IEA SPEND LITTLE ON REPRESENTING TEACHERS, BUT PRIORITIZE POLITICS
July 26, 2023 // Illinois teachers concerned about how NEA and IEA spend their hard-earned money have options. They can stop paying dues by opting out of union membership yet maintain all of the raises and other benefits their employers provide. Other professional organizations can provide liability insurance and job protection coverage, often at a fraction of the price of union membership. Less than 8% of NEA and IEA’s combined spending was on representing teachers in 2022 NEA and IEA spent a combined $659 million in 2022, according to the unions’ LM-2s, which are reporting documents the unions filed with the U.S. Department of Labor. $2.5 million to For our Future Action Fund, which claims to “build progressive power” $500,000 to Building Back Together, the organization “advanc[ing] the policy agenda of the Biden-Harris Administration” $450,000 to Strategic Victory Fund, which seeks to build “the infrastructure needed to build long-term progressive agendas and issue advocacy in states” $395,000 to Chicago-based Midwest Academy, a training organization that claims “empowering progressive organizers is our mission” $300,000 to America Votes, the “coordination hub of the progressive community” $270,000 to Democracy Alliance, an organization seeking to “advance progressive policy reforms” $225,000 to State Innovation Exchange, which equips legislators to “move bold, progressive public policy” $150,000 to Progressive Caucus Action Fund, which publishes a “progressive playbook”
Five Years after Janus, Government Unions Are Weaker — and More Desperate
July 5, 2023 // When SEIU HCII, which operates across four states, is removed from the picture, the overall public-sector-union membership in Illinois has decreased by over 10 percent. These declines are not isolated to a single entity but spread across all public employers, with teachers’ unions such as the Illinois Education Association and Illinois Federation of Teachers losing a combined 9.4 percent of their members or fee-payers. AFSCME Council 31 — the union that represented Janus — has seen an 18.5 percent drop. A significant decrease in union membership is a sign that workers are exercising their Janus freedoms. It also means that $25 million didn’t flow into government-union coffers in 2022. This is a financial blow to a movement that’s accustomed to having huge cash reserves to fund the politicking that gets the union bosses exactly what they want. Such a dramatic shift illustrates how many government workers feel underrepresented by their unions, pushing them to distance themselves from groups now charging more and delivering less. Which points up another consequence of Janus: Government unions are in a fight for their lives. Desperation has made them even more polarizing, extreme, and political — and greedy.
Illinois: Labor amendment remains on November ballot after court blocks petition
August 31, 2022 // Amendment 1 would create a state constitutional right for employees to organize and bargain collectively through representatives of their choosing to negotiate wages, hours, and working conditions and to protect their economic welfare and safety at work. The case, Sarah Sachen v. Illinois State Board of Elections, was brought by parents and teachers from Chicago Public Schools and claimed the proposed amendment would unconstitutionally enshrine union powers in the Illinois Constitution. Attorney General Kwame Raoul, Citizen Advisory Coalition to Save Illinois,
NEA dues rise, spending on teachers drops for 6 straight years
August 15, 2022 // To assist teachers in evaluating NEA’s and IEA’s spending, this report examines data pulled from the unions’ LM-2s5 in the following three areas: Representational spending Leadership spending Political spending. JUST 6% OF NEA’S AND IEA’S COMBINED SPENDING WAS ON REPRESENTING MEMBERS NEA AND IEA SPENDING ON UNION LEADERSHIP SALARIES OUTPACED SPENDING ON MEMBERS NEA AND IEA SPENT 1.5 TIMES MORE ON POLITICS THAN ON REPRESENTING TEACHERS IN 2021
Illinois: UNIONS SPEND NEARLY $5M TO PUSH PROPERTY TAX HIKES THROUGH AMENDMENT 1
June 29, 2022 // Illinoisans already suffer under the highest state and local tax burden in the Midwest, thanks to generous contracts and retirements won by powerful public unions from the elected leaders they helped bankroll. If Illinois becomes the only state to enshrine union powers in its constitution, taxpayers will face ever greater demands. progressive tax, fair tax, Mike Madigan, Boeing, Caterpillar, Citadel, constitutional amendment