What unions aren’t telling Illinois teachers: Your pension is in trouble

By Mailee Smith

11/01/2021

Barring reforms, the Teachers’ Retirement System could eventually run out of money and be unable to pay promised benefits to retirees, all while making it more expensive for teachers to live in Illinois.

TAGS: Illinois, pensions, teachers union

Amendment 1 will cement teacher strikes in Illinois Constitution

By Mailee Smith

10/21/2021

Voters will decide in November 2022 whether teachers’ unions will have a permanent right to walk out on students.

TAGS: Amendment 1, Illinois Constitution, strike, teachers union

Over 22,000 Illinois school employees stop handing their pay to a union

By Mailee Smith

08/12/2021

Educators across Illinois are exercising their rights, with over 22,000 fewer school employees sending dues or fees to teachers unions than in 2017.

TAGS: IEA-NEA: Illinois Education Association, IFT: Illinois Federation of Teachers, opt out, teachers union

CDC report: 1 in 10 Illinois students learned in-person for 8 months of pandemic

By Patrick Andriesen

07/01/2021

Illinois ranked 9th worst in the nation for offering students access to full-time in-person learning between September 2020 and April 2021 – less than any other Midwest state.

TAGS: COVID-19, Illinois, teachers union

Illinois bill to impose more public health controls on private schools dies

By Brad Weisenstein

05/31/2021

Private schools kept most of their students in class during the COVID-19 pandemic, making public schools look bad. Union bosses tried and failed to force through a bill to mandate state controls on private school operations in the case of a new health crisis.

TAGS: Illinois, private schools, teachers union

ISBE official confirms teachers’ union bosses have heavy hand in anti-private school bill

By Hilary Gowins

05/28/2021

Private schools found a way to stay open during the pandemic while the majority of public schools remained closed. Teachers’ union bosses want to rewrite the rules to handicap their competition should another state of emergency arise.

TAGS: emergency, ISBE: Illinois State Board of Education, private schools, teachers union

Bill giving state new powers to shut down private and public schools advances in General Assembly

By Amy Korte

05/27/2021

HB 2789 could threaten in-person instruction at public and private schools while the COVID-19 emergency order – or any other emergency order – persists.

TAGS: emergency, IDPH: Illinois Department of Public Health, Illinois, private schools, teachers union

Illinois takes aim at private schools with new bill

By Amy Korte

05/25/2021

An amendment to Illinois House Bill 2789 could result in a flurry of complaints against private and public schools for alleged violations of COVID-19 protocols, provides harsh penalties, including punishing teachers, and expands state authority over private schools.

TAGS: COVID-19, Illinois, ISBE: Illinois State Board of Education, private schools, teachers union

Illinois students will return to in-person schooling in fall

By Brad Weisenstein

05/19/2021

In-person learning will resume in the fall, the Illinois State Board of Education has decided. Whether kids will still be required to wear masks and sit behind plastic shields in the fall remains to be decided.

TAGS: COVID-19, Illinois, JB Pritzker, public schools, teachers union

Bill would allow Chicago Public Schools principals to go on strike

By Mailee Smith

05/17/2021

A bill that passed the Illinois House and is now in the Senate would allow Chicago principals to unionize and strike, creating an even more unstable environment for the city’s school children.

TAGS: public schools, strike, teachers union