Posts tagged Stacy Davis Gates
Chicago Teachers Union sues Illinois Policy Institute, citing ‘toxic’ branding, ‘defamatory’ audit claims
August 19, 2026 // Debates about the transparency of the CTU’s finances date back to 2024 and stem from one member’s complaint that the union is withholding financial information from members. CTU officials in January provided WBEZ/Sun-Times with a sign-in sheet that showed one of that suit’s plaintiffs had viewed the union’s audit reports, which don’t include information about the CTU’s foundation. The CTU has insisted that its constitution does not require the release of the full audits that also include the foundation’s finances. The new lawsuit claims the finalization of the audit reports were delayed for “innocuous reasons,” including that the finalization for fiscal year 2020 through 2023 were delayed due to complications from the pandemic and staffing turnover, as well as the impact of a lawsuit to protect pension benefits. The suit says the reports have been available to CTU members for review.
Opinion: George F. Will: Chicagoans are getting fed up with the city’s teachers union
August 14, 2026 // At more than 50 Chicago schools, the percent of students achieving math proficiency is 0.
Chicago schools count on $435M in unrealized taxes to balance budget
August 7, 2026 // Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union, asked the board before the vote to roll more assumed funding from other sources into the budget to prevent teacher layoffs and expand funding for schools. “The way that you're going to assume it for the mayor of Chicago. He signed up and he said, ‘yes,’ to the tune of a billion dollars. Who else can you assume as partners in this? Can you assume Maria Pappas? Can you assume Tony Preckwinkle? Can you assume J.B. Pritzker? Because we have people who assume it every day,” Gates said. The union repeatedly called on lawmakers to return for a special session to pass supplemental funding – a request made during the spring session, but not addressed before it ended.
Illinois Federation of Teachers educators aren’t getting what they’re paying for
August 5, 2026 // Less than 28% of IFT’s spending in 2025 was on representing teachers, according to the union’s annual report filed with the U.S. Labor Department. The rest was on politics, overhead and other union leadership priorities.
Illinois Federation of Teachers: 7 things the union doesn’t want teachers to know
August 4, 2026 // IFT represents educators in more than 200 districts across Illinois. But teachers’ zip codes dictate how much support they actually get from the union.
CTU and SEIU back different candidates for school board president, widening rift between staff unions
July 28, 2026 // The SEIU and the CTU used to work together to protest budget cuts, school closings and other actions that affected workers. SEIU was one of the biggest backers of CTU organizer turned mayoral candidate Brandon Johnson, and its related PACs contributed more than $4.6 million to his campaign. But a rift formed after the CTU attempted to get some of SEIU’s members reclassified so they would be under CTU. SEIU officials accused the CTU of raiding its members.
Chicago Teachers Union likes Brandon Johnson’s tax on sites like LinkedIn, TikTok
July 16, 2026 // The CTU isn’t a typical union interested in teacher wages and student improvement, which is obvious from the millions it’s spent on politics and lobbying over the years. It is a political party masked as a teachers union, and it is hurting students and underrepresenting teachers. Just 18% of what it spends is on representing them. In the meantime, its own leaders rake in six-figure incomes. And while the CTU and its president, Stacy Davis Gates, clamor for the “wealthy” to pay their “fair share,” Davis Gates has a long history of not even paying her own water bills.
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.
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 Union wants $8.5 million dues hike to fund politics
May 12, 2026 // But internal union documents show CTU leadership is trying to skim $8.5 million more from teacher paychecks explicitly for politics, while trying to silence union members critical of Gates’ leadership. Under the proposed dues hike, Chicago teachers would see up to $800 more per year flow from their paychecks to union coffers. The union already takes in more than $40 million a year, mostly from dues. And it spends less than 18 cents of every dollar on teacher representation.