Posts tagged Illinois Federation of Teachers
Tinley Park teachers union may strike Sept. 22
September 16, 2025 // Walking out on students has become a go-to strategy for many affiliates of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and the Illinois Education Association, the two biggest teachers unions in Illinois. Earlier this school year, Valley View Council Local 604, an affiliate of IFT, set a Sept. 18 strike date but reached a tentative agreement before walking out. The Naperville Unit Education Association, an affiliate of IEA, voted to authorize a strike but reached a tentative contract agreement one day later.
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.
Illinois General Assembly passes 3 bills boosting government union power
June 24, 2025 // Illinois law already requires school districts to provide their local unions the personal information of all teachers and other education employees represented by those unions. That includes the employee’s name, worksite location, home address, home telephone number, mobile numbers and personal email address. Currently, that information must be turned over to the local union, even if the employee is not a union member. HB 3309 takes it farther.
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.
American Federation of Teachers spends little on teachers, lots on staff
December 4, 2024 // The American Federation of Teachers’ recent federal filing showed just 36% of the national union’s spending was on representing teachers. More than two-thirds of its own employees made six-figure salaries.
Chicago teachers union slams newspaper that called them out for their members’ chronic absence
December 3, 2024 // "Alarmingly, this poor record of CPS teachers showing up for work has been a new and recent phenomenon. In the 2022-23 school year, for example, CPS teachers’ performance was even worse — 43% were absent at least 10 days. Before that year, though, the rate was considerably better: in the 2016-17 school year, chronic absenteeism among CPS teachers was 31%. The number worsened slightly from there leading into the pandemic but still was better than what we’re seeing now," the editorial board wrote. Chicago teachers are paid a median salary of $95,000, significantly more than what teachers are paid in the suburbs and more than "any other large school district in the nation," according to the Tribune.
Chicago teachers’ union claim that Black kids cannot pass standardized tests doesn’t go over well with mom
August 14, 2024 // Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union and executive vice president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers, was asked by a Black radio station last week about public school students' declining reading and math scores. Specifically, criticism that Gates was advocating to boost teachers' contracts with money that would be better served addressing student achievement. She responded that gauging student achievement through testing was the problem.
Illinois Federation of Teachers, American Federation of Teachers spend a lot, but not on teachers
August 8, 2024 // The federal filings of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and its national affiliate, the American Federation of Teachers, reveal questionable spending, with little spent on representing teachers, millions spent on politics and deficit spending while the big boss got $500K.
ILLINOIS: Teacher unions backing downstate Republicans ‘very rare,’ says researcher
March 18, 2024 // According to Open Secrets data, the total given to Democrats in the 2021-2022 election cycle from teachers unions' political action committees is over $4 million. Only $24,000 was given to Republicans nationwide. Sarah Bryner, the Open Secrets director of research and strategy, said it’s very rare you’ll see large sums of money going to Republican primary races. "By and large they tend to support people who they [the unions] think understand their causes,” said Bryner. “In an election where the general is at play you will see unions getting involved in [Democrat] primaries because that’s where most of the action is because once you get to the general the Democrats are typically already the winner. Typically you’ll just see them supporting Democrats.”
CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION, AFFILIATES BIGGEST SPENDERS ON CHICAGO POLITICS
December 15, 2023 // Johnson’s deep ties to CTU should worry Chicagoans. Johnson, a former “legislative coordinator” for CTU, will be sitting across the table from his former CTU colleagues when they negotiate a new contract in 2024. Their tight relationship effectively places CTU on both sides of the bargaining table. What’s on the line if he keeps toeing the CTU line? A plethora of expensive contract demands, with taxpayers bearing the costs. Past demands include defunding the police – Johnson himself once said he would cut the Chicago Police budget by at least $150 million – and creating affordable housing. Those potential provisions are not typically negotiated into teachers union contracts, but could be under Johnson’s tenure. And while the union has focused on non-education demands, most students within Chicago Public Schools can’t read or do math at grade level.