Illinois Education Association

Progressive tax means higher taxes for 98 percent of Illinois educators

By Benjamin VanMetre, Erik Bauman
04/29/2014
Some Illinois lawmakers and special-interest groups are pushing for a so-called fair tax, or progressive income tax in Illinois. Among the leading advocates of the progressive tax is Illinois Education Association, or IEA, which misleadingly claims the progressive tax would “increase taxes on the rich” while “cutting taxes on the middle class.” The reality is...

Number of Illinois union bosses earning six-figure salaries continues to grow

By Paul Kersey
10/16/2013
In Big Labor mythology, union leaders are gritty, idealistic working class people standing up to the arrogant and wealthy. In reality, running a union is big business, and a union gig can mean making a pretty good living. Illinois teachers unions can be particularly generous with compensation. In “The Labor Book,” we looked at government...

TAGS: AFSCME: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, IFT: Illinois Federation of Teachers, SEIU: Service Employees International Union

Democrats receive overwhelming majority of Illinois government union donations

By Paul Kersey
10/16/2013
In recent months, unions that had been sharply critical about many aspects of ObamaCare have been extremely quiet since Republicans in Congress have made a concerted – and very controversial – attempt to slow down implementation of the law. The federal government shutdown could have presented a creative union lobbyist with a great opening to...

TAGS: AFL-CIO, AFSCME: American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, IFT: Illinois Federation of Teachers, SEIU: Service Employees International Union

Teachers can reclaim a portion of union dues

By Paul Kersey
09/25/2013
School has been back in session for about a month now, and teachers across Illinois are busy making lesson plans, grading papers and more. But they should also be thinking about whether or not they want to contribute to their union’s political campaigns. Public school teachers are almost always forced to pay union dues or...

Teachers on strike in Carpentersville District 300

By Paul Kersey
12/04/2012
LEAD 300, the Illinois Education Association affiliate that represents public school teachers in Carpentersville Community Unit School District 300 schools, has called a strike this morning, and the district has announced that classes are cancelled. The main sticking point in the strike appears to be class sizes. In the last best offers for both sides...

Chicago Forward 2026: A pro-growth plan to end city budget deficits

Chicago’s $1.15 billion projected budget gap is the latest in a decades-long string of structural deficits. Making Chicago’s high taxes worse is not the solution.

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Diana Graham

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

By Paul Kersey
06/19/2014

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

By Ted Dabrowski
05/02/2016