Years of exorbitant political spending in Illinois – more than $24.3 million since 2010 – has secured an enormous amount of political influence for the Chicago Teachers Union. It is now the main political player not just in Chicago, but across the state.

A 142-page leaked set of Chicago Teachers Union demands includes creation of dormitories for unaccompanied youth and use of schools as sheltering places, all of which fall outside the normal scope of bargaining.

A 142-page leaked document contains hundreds of Chicago Teachers Union contract demands, from 100% abortion coverage to pay for surrogates, from housing students in old schools to a fleet of electric school buses. Then there are 180 more of the union’s favored, failing schools.

Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates on March 5 told a packed house at the City Club of Chicago this: Stop asking questions about how to pay for her list of demands, even if it costs “$50 billion … and three cents.”