Chicago Teachers Union must answer for audits

A Cook County judge isn’t letting the CTU off the hook for violating member rights.

The Chicago Teachers Union is being scrutinized in court after failing to release years of financial audits.

CTU’s leaders fought union members, a congressional inquiry and a potential U.S. Labor Department investigation for five years before finally publishing annual audits in a member portal.

The union’s own rules require it to publish the audits annually. When it refused to do so, members sued. They accuse CTU of violating members’ rights by withholding information and not following internal rules mandating that a financial audit be provided to members each year.

The latest development: A Cook County judge refused another CTU attempt to dismiss the lawsuit. In sum, posting the previous audits on the member portal has not let the union off the hook yet.

In the March 20 order, Judge David B. Atkin said CTU cannot close the door on the case, because the union has still refused to concede it won’t withhold the reports in the future.

Despite CTU attempting to avoid financial scrutiny by its members, its record-low popularity among likely Chicago voters is inescapable. In a recent poll, just 27.5% had a favorable opinion of CTU, and almost half said they were less likely to vote for a candidate who takes CTU money.

That reality was on full display in the March 17 primary, as half of the CTU-endorsed candidates in contested races lost.

By keeping members in the dark for over five years, CTU has made it clear its members are not a priority and transparency about member dues is not valued.