by Paul Kersey
Director of Labor Policy
Striking Chicago teachers have at times echoed the themes of
the Occupy Wall Street movement. Hostility toward big corporations that benefit
from tax breaks and other giveaways (real and imagined) has been a recurring
theme. Yesterday CTU President
Karen Lewis told a rally “I'm not afraid to say that we care about our children
and we have more in common with our children and our parents than we do with
these rich people that think they know best."
But while the teachers union has sometimes been cast in the
role of vindicators of the 99% against the rapacious 1%, a
quick look at their spending reports indicates that the teachers unions are
mainly the stronghold of what might be called the second percent: not
fabulously wealthy but certainly well-off.
A failure in federal union financial disclosure law, and the
complete lack of financial reporting standards at the state level, means that
salary figures are not available for the Chicago Teachers Union. But their Illinois statewide affiliate,
the Illinois Federation of Teachers, does have statements online, and a quick
review of their report for 2011 shows that 37 officials and employees of the
IFT earned over $100,000
|
Last Name
|
First Name
|
Title
|
Gross Salary
|
|
McGue
|
Michael
|
Local Staff
|
255,871
|
|
Preckwinkle
|
Steven W.
|
Admin. Staff
|
197,704
|
|
Montgomery
|
Dan
|
President
|
189,920
|
|
Richmond
|
David W.
|
Admin. Staff
|
164,947
|
|
Wilson
|
Lee R.
|
Admin. Staff
|
164,947
|
|
Shaevel
|
Robert A.
|
Field Staff
|
155,412
|
|
Harston
|
Ava C.
|
Field Staff
|
144,304
|
|
Excell
|
Amy L.
|
Comm. Staff
|
138,409
|
|
Reed
|
Terry M.
|
Field Staff
|
138,409
|
|
Smith
|
Thomas E.
|
Field Staff
|
138,409
|
|
Stachowiak
|
Todd M.
|
Field Staff
|
136,445
|
|
Miller
|
Marietta L.
|
Field Staff
|
135,032
|
|
Piccioli
|
David R.
|
Legislative
|
135,032
|
|
Walter
|
Susan
|
Field Staff
|
135,032
|
|
Comerford
|
David C.
|
Comm. Staff
|
127,764
|
|
Federici
|
Michelle S.
|
Legislative
|
127,764
|
|
Griffith
|
Keith
|
Field Staff
|
127,764
|
|
McDonald
|
Lorenzo
|
Field Staff
|
127,764
|
|
Meeks
|
Maureen
|
Acct. Dir.
|
127,764
|
|
Mistry-Mujthaba
|
Arnavaz
|
Field Staff
|
127,764
|
|
Nadler
|
Jonathon
|
Field Staff
|
127,764
|
|
Teefey
|
Sharon
|
Field Staff
|
127,764
|
|
Yelverton
|
Nicholas
|
Legislative
|
127,764
|
|
Bullock
|
Lydia
|
Legislative
|
118,981
|
|
Little
|
John C.
|
Comm. Staff
|
118,981
|
|
Lutz
|
Carlene
|
Field Staff
|
118,981
|
|
Uphoff
|
Lisa
|
Field Staff
|
118,981
|
|
Aerne
|
Laura
|
Field Staff
|
116,304
|
|
Baldwin
|
Linda
|
Field Staff
|
112,782
|
|
Pajeau
|
Deneen
|
Field Staff
|
112,782
|
|
Sculuca
|
Lynnette M.
|
Field Staff
|
112,782
|
|
Shaevel
|
Kathy
|
Field Staff
|
112,782
|
|
Alsop
|
Amy
|
Field Staff
|
106,949
|
|
Barger
|
John L.
|
Field Staff
|
106,949
|
|
Li
|
Charles P.
|
Field Staff
|
106,949
|
|
Nieves
|
Lenny P.
|
Field Staff
|
106,949
|
|
Baird
|
John
|
Field Staff
|
102,578
|
This list does not include CTU President Karen Lewis. But Ms. Lewis did earn a $56,700 from
IFT in 2011, and probably received very generous income on top of that from the
CTU; according to the Chicago Tribune her
predecessor at the CTU earned $211,000 in 2009. Double-dipping is not unheard of in the union world when
union officials can earn multiple salaries for different roles.
By CTU’s own reckoning an average teacher in CPS earns
$71,000, well above the average for workers in Chicago. Meanwhile many of the victims of this
strike are poor families that have been forced to improvise child care for
children who would ordinarily be in school. While some may want to imagine the strike as a battle of the
wealthy versus the downtrodden, there’s a pretty strong case to be made that
CTU is actually on the side of the relatively wealthy.
