The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has long been one of the most radical labor organizations in the country from its insistence on teachers being subsidized in political protests to members praising the former Communist regime in Venezuela. Now, with the Illinois Federation of Teachers, the CTU is demanding yet another massive public infusion of money despite the dismal performance of its members in actually improving scores for Chicago children. They are calling for a special session and billions in more funding.
We have previously discussed how teacher unions have become virtual slush funds for Democratic Party operations, spending over a billion dollars on Democratic candidates and campaigns. In return, Democratic politicians have agreed to bloated pension and compensation packages that have driven cities and states into the red, particularly in Illinois.
It is a closed loop of influence and excess. 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. Even with that lowering, just 2 out of 5 children meet the lower proficiency standards. Forty percent of Chicago students are “chronically absent” from class.
According to the latest Illinois Report Card, 38% of the state’s public school students demonstrated proficiency in math last year. 52% showed ELA proficiency.
Nevertheless, teachers demanded the right to join May Day protests during work hours to speak against immigration enforcement, billionaires, and oligarchs. They called on citizens to boycott stores to oppose the super-wealthy and billionaires.
They are now demanding a special session to fund what “we are owed.”
Chicago Board of Education member Jitu Brown demanded “The $2 billion that we are owed just adequately funds, but when you are repairing harm you have to fund above and beyond.” Brown called on Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson, who was previously a Chicago teacher and is generally viewed as owing his election to the unions, to repeat his December 2025 $1 billion tax-increment-financing push for the Chicago Public Schools.
As always, the CTU and IFT President Stacy Davis Gates framed the demand in class-warfare terms, calling on Gov. J.B. Pritzker to convene a special legislative session to raise revenue from the “ultra-wealthy.”
Of course, Pritzker did not respond by raising concerns about the dismal educational record for students, but by promising more money. While he acknowledged that they have increased spending every year, with the budget hitting $3 billion, he said the unions are right that they need even more money.
Notably, both the IFT and CTU are demanding that Pritzker reject a federal tax credit scholarship program that would provide tax credits for donations to scholarship organizations that fund education-related expenses for students in public, private, and homeschool settings.
The unions oppose any voucher system that would give poor families a real choice in seeking better education for their children. Both AFT president Randi Weingarten and NEA president Rebecca S. Pringle opposed voucher options.
Some of us have changed our views of vouchers in light of the stranglehold these unions have on public education.
Decades ago, my parents helped create an organization to stem the exodus of families from public schools and to reinforce academic standards in the Chicago Public School system. They convinced more families to remain in the system because they believed (as I do) that public schools can play a critical role in shaping citizens through diverse, shared experiences.
I was long skeptical of voucher systems because of that commitment to public education. However, teacher unions and administrators are destroying public education in America. They are treating families as captive audiences while infusing education with social and political agendas. The only way to break this decades-long cycle of failure, in my opinion, is to give families alternatives by allowing them to send their children to schools with core educational priorities (as opposed to advocacy).
Of course, none of this matters when teachers’ unions are funneling over a billion dollars into Democratic campaign coffers. This is all part of a pay-to-play operation. The unions fund Democratic campaigns and then Democratic politicians fund bloated union contracts. Teachers then cycle some of this money back into Democratic campaigns in a self-perpetuating machine. The only losers are the taxpayers and, more importantly, the children.
Time to cue Pringle on using their massive political campaign chests to “win all the things”:
The Chicago Teachers Union president, Stacy Davis Gates, earns over $273,000 annually. “We don’t gots to teach dem kids nuttin, nohow, ya see? We’s in charge now, an we’s gonna demands whats we gets from dem taxpays in da city an dey don’ts got a choice,” the Union stated in an official communique. lmfao
The problem with education is not money. It’s never been about money. Kids got a better education in the 1960s than today. That’s despite funding going up 273% AFTER ADJUSTED FOR INFLATION.
Part of the difficulty is parents. But a bigger difficulty is the liberal influence/takeover of the entire process. There are no consequences for lack of performance, cheating and other interruptive and dysfunctional behaviors.
Meanwhile, back in the 1960s, two of my friends were just not quite ready to move on as they were not competent in curriculum. So they were held back by the school district and had to repeat 3rd grade. They both needed that time. They were both successful in the remainder of their public school education then went to college and did well there, as well.
Now it’s just about moving them on. Even they can’t read or do math they move you on. Because, really, they don’t care. For them, it’s all about the Benjamin’s, not your child’s eduction.
Keeping kids from moving on to the next grade level is a bad idea. One or two years older makes the dumb kid a bully causing a big problem for the rest of the class. Everyone suffers, except for the bullies. Eventually the dumb kids wind up in prison. But today in 2026, they don’t go to prison but are left to prey on all the law-abiding, hardworking, God-fearing Americans.
While a 1960s nostalgia trip sounds nice, the claim that money doesn’t matter is completely debunked by data—even from conservative, Republican-led states that have recently proven the exact opposite.
When conservative districts and states actually invest money intelligently into their public schools, student performance skyrockets. It’s indeed money. It has always been about money and spending more of it.
Look at Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana—historically conservative, Republican-trifecta states. Over the last decade, these states were tired of ranking near the bottom of national education boards, so they did exactly what you claim doesn’t work: they increased public education funding and targeted it.
Louisiana passed massive budget overhauls, increasing public education funding by 34% over a decade while continuously raising teacher pay. The result? Louisiana went on to post nation-leading academic gains in 8th-grade math and dramatic improvements in early literacy.
Mississippi poured state funding into the “Literacy-Based Promotion Act,” providing millions of dollars for specialized reading coaches, mandatory teacher retraining, and early childhood screening. By 2024, Mississippi famously climbed to 1st in the entire United States for 4th-grade reading growth.
If money didn’t matter, these deep-red, modest-budget states wouldn’t have just experienced the most historic educational turnaround in modern U.S. history by aggressively funding targeted public school programs.
Funding has gone up since the 1960s because public schools are legally required to provide heavily resource-intensive services that did not exist back then. In the 1960s, millions of children with physical disabilities, learning differences (like dyslexia or autism), and non-English speakers were routinely excluded from public schools or completely ignored. Today, a large portion of school budgets goes directly to federally mandated Special Education (IEPs), speech therapy, and English as a Second Language (ESL) programs. That’s why there’s more need for funding then it they needed back then. It was easier to weed out the cripples, mentally challenged kids, and the poor. Because they were deemed unworthy of an education. Let’s also keep in mind that racism was still a big thing in the 60’s.
Debunked by data? Got proof George. As far as I can tell, you made the numbers up. Listen, AI is a solution for being stupid and lazy. You go to school in Chicago?
If you want proof, go straight to the official data dashboard on the Chicago Public Schools Demographics Website.
Google is also available for your perusal.
I fear the US will soon be in a full-blown Civil War. Americans against communists. It’s that simple. Americans will have to shed their blood to purge this nation of the putrid communism that’s been present in many of our education systems & other parts of our lives.
Not much time to post today, but yes, the modern unions would make both Jimmy Hoffa and Al Capone blush. Then again, they are largely run by the same juvenile, spoiled, and entitled brats that just swept the DN(S)C in NYC, and were likely heavily involved in the operation of the White House from 2020-24. Tough to feel bad for them and their very obvious dysfunction, both personal and ideological. They are not well, and the people that raised them should be spanked.
How long before parents exert their influence ?
I have no problems with Unions generally but public unions are an oxymoron in education when you try to combine effective teaching, improving knowledge of the children, and peace in the Schools. We had teacher unions in Indiana when we had Gov. Evan Bayh (D) ,by executive order, and had nothing but conflict, and tremendous amounts of invective and chaos with teacher strikes. Once he left the governorship, the executive order was revoked and peace has returned in education. Not perfect but Indiana is growing more rapidly these days and many are moving from Illinois and happy to be here.
Public Unions are a conflict of interest in the worst possible way. It’s not enough that we had decades of warning watching public employees unions in Europe and the liberal states.
@GEB
I didn’t used to, but today’s unions are not those unions, with exceptions. Like everything the modern left has touched, they have been poisoned to exist in service exclusively to the modern left. We need to disavow ourselves of the notion that anything is what used to be in equitable or ethical terms. Those days are gone and our eyes need to be open, IMO 🤷🏽♂️
“We have previously discussed how teacher unions have become virtual slush funds for Democratic Party operations, spending over a billion dollars on Democratic candidates and campaigns.”
Think about it. What other business or service in America (hospitals, educational institutions, utility companies, energy companies)
is allowed to donate $1 billion to “candidates and campaigns” when it is NOT providing the services or products that it is contracted to provide? (and must ask for $billions more money)?
Lin, teacher unions use Political Action Committees (PACs), which are funded entirely by voluntary, opt-in contributions from individual members’ paychecks—not from public tax dollars.
We can thank the Citizens united ruling for this.
The Chicago Public Schools (the government entity asking for funding) is completely separate from the Chicago Teachers Union (the private labor organization that engages in political speech). A school district cannot legally spend a single penny on a political campaign.
Unions are not “contracted to provide” a flawless educational outcome independent of outside variables; their role is to bargain for the working conditions and compensation of their members.
Teachers’ unions are legally structured as private, independent labor organizations rather than government agencies. Under federal tax law, they are classified as 501(c)(5) non-profit entities, which gives them the same legal independence from the government as a private club, charity, or corporation.Furthermore, their funding is strictly private.
Because they are private membership organizations, they are governed by their own elected leadership and bylaws, giving them the constitutional right to engage in political advocacy and free speech just like any other private group in America.
Turley seems to leave out the fact that the Chicago Teacher’s union is a private organization.
Lin,
Let us call it for what it really is: Fraud. The taxpayers pay them to teach children to read, write, math etc. and they fail at it. Or, dont even try. And now, want more money to do . . . the same job: Not teaching.
Upstatefarmer, fraud? LOL! You have proof of that?
Just because you’re not seeing the results YOU want does not mean they are not doing their jobs. It’s a lot more complicated than that. Kids learn at different paces and some are more difficult to teach than others. Perhaps you could volunteer and show these teachers how easy it is. I’m sure you could do a better job than them. Right?
Chicago Teaches and their Radical Leadership is well Over Paid/ More Money More Benefits etc. They always want more an dmore $$$$.
Oh look, Jonathan Turley is recycling the classic “greedy teachers union vs. captive children” script while conveniently deleting the actual math. Calling Chicago Public Schools a “slush fund” is a neat rhetorical trick, but it totally ignores that the state of Illinois shortchanges its own Evidence-Based Funding formula by $3 billion annually, and that the current district deficit is fueled by expiring federal COVID relief—not just union contracts.
Turley’s sudden conversion to the church of voucher privatization as the “only way” to save the kids is particularly disingenuous. He claims voucher systems rescue families from failure, yet he completely blanks on the actual data from his favorite school-choice poster children.Look at Florida: after removing income limits and adopting universal vouchers, the program’s cost skyrocketed from $1.4 billion to over $4.5 billion annually. According to the Education Law Center, state aid rerouted to private vouchers averages $8,833 per pupil, while aid left for actual public school students averages less than half of that at $4,405.
Worse yet, a recent state audit revealed that Florida couldn’t fully account for $270 million in taxpayer voucher funds due to a complete lack of oversight. If vouchers are a magic bullet for academic excellence, Florida’s cratering test scores missed the memo; its 8th-grade reading rankings on the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) plummeted from 25th in the nation in 2017 down to a dismal 43rd in 2024.
Pretending privatization fixes education while the data shows it just drains public coffers to subsidize wealthy private school tuition and tank student performance isn’t analysis—it’s just carrying water for a political agenda.
Blaming Teacher Unions for things out of their control is typical turley.
How are Florida kids doing vis a vis Chicago kids?
Florida’s 8th-grade reading scores plummeted to 43rd in the nation in 2024, down from 21st just two years prior. Its 8th-grade math scores sank to 41st in the nation. Both metrics have fallen completely below the national public school average.
In Chicago despite navigating intense post-pandemic socioeconomic challenges and systemic state underfunding, Chicago’s 8th-grade students actually maintained steady performance, scoring right in line with the national average for large U.S. cities.
Comparing an entire state’s educational apparatus to a single, high-poverty urban school district is already an apples-to-oranges logical fallacy. But the fact that Florida’s middle schoolers are actively cratering down into the bottom tier of national rankings proves that treating education like a corporate voucher marketplace doesn’t help kids—it just drains the public budget.
-And here’s some AI for YOU, georgie porgie, like it or leave it.
Do you think this might have something to do with the decline, clown?
“Florida has seen a significant increase in illegal immigration, particularly during the Biden administration, with hundreds of thousands of immigrants arriving in recent years. The state had the highest rate of new migrants, with Miami being the most affected metropolitan area in the U.S.”
Until and unless there are major structural changes in American ed the decline will.continue.
1. End the school calendar based on agriculture. ( school starting in the fall and ending in the spring)
2 Replace with year round school based on 4 quarters starting in Jan and ending in Dec.
3. End promotion of students who haven’t attained yearly objectives.
4. Only promote teachers to administrative positions who have demonstrated competency in the classroom and leadership skills.
Im a retired teacher with 33 years experience in a large suburban school system.
George, George, George. Why don’t you tell us who pays you to write this drivel? If you really think teachers unions and indeed all public unions are a good thing, I’m guessing you’re a product of a big city public school.
Nobody pays me anything. I post my own opposing view or rebuttals because I can and challenge the professor’s assertions. It’s literally a free speech exercise, the very thing Turley loves to emphasize as a ‘free speech advocate’.
You tell him X! You come here everyday to correct Turley and all the others about the law and the constitution! You know everything about construction, about rent, being a landlord, airplanes, algae, and now teachers unions and budgets and public transporation in Chicago! We need more people like you to tell people like me with blue hair, shaved on one side, septum nose ring what to think! You are the smarts person you know!
X is not qualified to “challenge the professor’s assertions.”
Can’t even think on his own and has to rely on AI and Google and Wiki to even respond and “challenge” Turley—starting at 8:17 this morning, shortly after Turley posted. What a wasted life, that X.
What they are owed?
What are the taxpayers and the children owed by the teachers union? Something like well educated children? Or at least a child who can read their own diploma.
Go ahead. Raise taxes to pay them more for nothing. Watch as the exodus increases.
It’s state law. Illinois’s Evidence-Based Funding formula legally mandates a certain level of funding. Illinois constantly underfunds their schools by $3 billion annually.
The ARE owed quite a bit. Turley left out that particular fact.
I have saved all your old comments. YOu NEVER accused Turley or others here of omitting facts or information UNTIL IT WAS THROWN AT YOU. Impressed, you adopted that tactic, just like you increased your vocabulary and comeback skills—ALL LEARNED FROM TURLEY’S BLOG. NO WONDER YOU SPEND SO MUCH TIME HERE.
Professor Turley has changed his mind about school vouchers and what the teacher’s unions are doing to our children but once again will not change that voter registration from Dem to Republican. It will happen Professor, just pull the band-aid off and make the move already. You see what is happening in NY, in Seattle, in MI and in LA with socialists/communists, and in NY even worse, becoming the new Democrat party so understand that they have left you and the party is gone.
Turley is a classical liberal and has nothing in common with what the modern Democrat party has become. People like him were expunged from the party beginning decades ago. What we are witnessing is the normal evolution of a leftist party towards authoritarianism. I was originally registered as a Democrat at a time when the party controlled the state. It was a very different party then. I switched when I realized Dems thought I was dumb enough to believe their lies. Now I wonder why anyone with a brain continues to affiliate with what has become of the Democrat party. It is overtly anti-American, anti-Western, anti freedom, anti-Constitution, anti-freedom, etc. I don’t expect them to join the Republicans necessarily, but continuing to identify with the party in hopes it will revert back to what it was is hopeless. Time to start a new party.
Ya know Jenny Craig has an 800 number.
They’re all stuffed in the video. Pigs.
The End of the Barry Era is near.
Just got replaced in Ny. Buh bye.
Unions can be beneficial in the private sector if the employer is not considerate of the employees. In the public sector they should be outlawed because of the conflict of interest between negotiations and donations.
Years ago one of the departments I managed as a satellite of the main center voted to go union. Most of the employees in the department were students at Stanford. After looking at the contract, I called a meeting in which I told them they would all have to be fired. The union contract eliminated the flex schedule that we had arranged so they could go to school. On our own we came to a deal, where I would not know as long as we met the coverage needed to provide the blood services as required.
“Unions can be beneficial in the private sector if the employer is not considerate of the employees.”
Not really. If the employer is “not considerate of employees” then the burden should be on each employee to prove to the employer he provides greater value than the employer is currently offering. I did it twice in my career. In one case I went out and got an offer from a competing firm, which my employer matched to keep me there. The result was a substantial increase in pay. In another case, I got a better offer and promotion in responsibility that my employer was unwilling to match, so I walked.
Employees banning together like a gang or mob not only gives the mob too much power, but it protects some underperforming employees who are not carrying their own weight.
The result is collective bargaining agreements that leave the employer with little flexibility to respond to shifts in market dynamics and consumer preferences. Then firms in those industries go bankrupt. It’s happened in steel, autos, airlines, railroads, trucking, shipping, have all gone bankrupt after giving too much away in collective bargaining.
I agree that private unions were valuable and important – even very important – in elevating working conditions and balancing power – a century ago. Their time has past.
“Venezuela will never forget the hand extended to our people in these hard hours,” -President Rodriguez
It is just a matter of time when Chicago will be compared as similar to Lagos, Nigeria. The teacher unions have become like a plague of locusts, consuming everything, giving nothing.
Franklin D. Roosevelt firmly stated that “the process of collective bargaining, as usually understood, cannot be transplanted into the public service.”
These teacher collectives are nothing more than an angry den of thieves, who serve only themselves. Where have all the good people gone?
Serves only? That is the reason for unions. Worldwide too.
Good people? Define it.
Nothing new here. Democrats firmly believe that education money does matter for inner city children of color, but actual education of inner city children of color doesn’t matter a whit.
Why on God’s green earth are teacher unions even allowed to contribute to any political organization
Political influence. Turley stated it. Comprehension problem? Guess you’re one of those whose so called education was not an education.
Because Teacher unions are private organizations. Money is free speech. If they want to spend it to contribute to a political organization they legally allowed to.
Glad to see you agree with the Supreme Court’s decision on Corporations being allowed to contribute to campaigns.
President Trump and GOP
Outlaw Public Unions, the political army of the Dems
TAXPAYERS shouldn’t fund BRIBES for Democrats!
Outlaw unions? Why? What about private unions? Bribes? Got proof?
Public Unions are not actually funded by the public. They are private entities, not public organizations. Taxpayers don’t fund these ‘public’ unions. Union members use their private contributions to fund the union.