Chicago teachers who don’t want to fund CTU leadership’s politics have options

By Mailee Smith, Vincent Caruso

01/30/2020

Leaders of Illinois’ largest local teachers’ union received swift blowback after their latest push into public politics. Members dissatisfied with the priorities of their union’s leadership deserve to know they have other options.

TAGS: Chicago, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, government unions, Jesse Sharkey, Kim Foxx, labor, Lori Lightfoot, Nicolas Maduro, opt out, public sector, Stacy Davis Gates, strike, Venezuela

Chicago’s 2020 budget proposal was never truly balanced

By Adam Schuster, Bill Reveille

11/26/2019

Faced with the impossible task of balancing Chicago’s budget without pension reform, Mayor Lori Lightfoot is forced to partially rely on phantom cuts and revenues.

TAGS: bonds, budget, CAFR: Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, Chicago, Chicago City Council, Chicago City Hall, constitutional amendment, CTA: Chicago Transit Authority, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, deficit, emergency fee, homelessness, housing market, ILGA: Illinois General Assembly, interest rates, library, Lori Lightfoot, Lyft, property taxes, Rahm Emanuel, real estate, real estate transfer tax, tax hikes, tax increase, TIF: Tax Increment Financing, Uber

Chicago student enrollment dropped by 6,000, but union blocks closing schools

By Ben Szalinski

11/22/2019

The new contract continues a moratorium on school closings despite plummeting student enrollment.

TAGS: Chicago, contract, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, credit rating, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, enrollment, funding guarantee

All Illinois taxpayers on the hook for CTU’s 244-sick-day pension sweetener

By Vincent Caruso

11/14/2019

A provision included in the bargaining agreement reached between Chicago and its teachers union will allow teachers to trade up to 244 unused sick days for pension credits – billable to all Illinois taxpayers.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, municipal pensions, pension guarantee, pensions, teacher salaries

Chicago teachers no longer can save 40 sick days for retirement: now it’s 244

By Vincent Caruso

11/04/2019

Pension benefits consume 25% of Chicago Public Schools’ budget. The new Chicago Teachers Union contract increases bankable sick days six-fold, increasing pension costs and taking more from classrooms.

TAGS: CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, municipal pensions, pension guarantee, pensions

Striking Chicago teachers have the right to go to work and get paid

By Mailee Smith

10/30/2019

Teachers in Chicago Public Schools who are not union members cannot be punished for going to work during a union strike.

TAGS: Chicago, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, strike

Chicago teachers recover pension contributions 5 months into retirement

By Adam Schuster

10/29/2019

After retiring at age 55, the average Chicago teacher just takes five months to get back everything they contributed toward their pension during their career.

TAGS: Chicago, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, municipal pensions, pension guarantee, pensions

Chicago school worker says she was assaulted for crossing picket line

By Austin Berg

10/27/2019

Yedidah Reuben said two union members attacked her for trying to work.

TAGS: Chicago, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, labor, unions

Chicago teachers who don’t want to be on strike have options

By Mailee Smith

10/23/2019

The Chicago Teachers Union walked out on strike Oct. 17, but teachers who are not members of the union have more freedom to decide whether to return to their students.

TAGS: Chicago, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, strike

Chicago Teachers Union on strike for third time in 7 years

By Mailee Smith

10/21/2019

After rejecting an offer based on recommendations of a neutral third-party report, Illinois’ largest teachers’ union walked out on their students Oct. 17.

TAGS: Chicago, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, property taxes, taxes

Illinois Forward: A 5-year plan for balanced budgets, declining debt and tax relief

The years 2010 through 2019 will go down in Illinois history as a decade of public policy failure and economic decline. High fixed costs for pensions and government worker health care have prevented the state from balancing its budget in any year since 2001. Since the Great Recession in 2008, the state’s fiscal imbalance has...

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Illinois Forward: A 5-year plan for balanced budgets, declining debt and tax relief

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Ifeoma Nkemdi

Policy lessons from Illinois’ exodus of people and money

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students