The Illinois Federation of Teachers, the parent union of the Chicago Teachers Union, should be worried about the three Rs, but its main R is “radicalism.” Transgender restrooms, defunding the police and getting rid of charter schools top its radical agenda.

Chicago Teachers Union members are seeing their dues jump to more $1,400 this year – over $160 more than last year. Here are three reasons to believe CTU hiked dues to make up for its own questionable financial decisions.

For the first time since the Chicago Teachers Union started filing federal reports, the union reported spending more money than it took in for its 2023 fiscal year. It underscores members’ concerns about union leaders for years failing to provide required audits.

The Chicago Teachers Union’s most recent federal report reveals just 17% of its spending in 2023 was on representing teachers, but it tripled its political spending from the previous year. Nearly 500 teachers left the union.