Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan has funded a lot of campaigns – and his legal defense – with money from government unions. Even if unions still back him in the New Year, members have options.

Government unions and their PACs have spent more than $1 million pushing the progressive tax on the Nov. 3 ballot – and are using misleading information.

CTU members who don’t support the union’s violent rhetoric have another option: they can opt out of the union. But they must do so today if they want to stop paying dues this school year.

Teachers’ unions have provided lots of campaign cash to Illinois House Speaker Mike Madigan, who’s been implicated in a bribery scandal. Teachers who don’t want their money sent to a corrupt system can opt out of the union.

While members can opt out of CTU at any time, the union says they may only stop paying the union if they do so during a one-month period. A lawsuit filed against the union argues this violates teachers’ First Amendment rights.

The Chicago Teachers Union went on strike despite an offer that would boost average pay to nearly $100,000. Here’s who is getting hurt and the true costs of the strike.

Educators across the state are exercising their rights, with 12,000 fewer public school employees sending dues or fees to teachers unions today than before the Janus v. AFSCME ruling.

This is the first anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court ruling government employees cannot be forced to pay a union. In that year, about 20,000 workers from just three of Illinois’ public-sector unions have said “no” to union membership.

A detailed review of teachers union spending, 2013-2018