The union embraces political spending tactics the Chicago Teachers Union uses in an effort to further its political goals.

IFT represents educators in more than 200 districts across Illinois. But teachers’ zip codes dictate how much support they actually get from the union.

Teacher contracts expire this year in at least 60 districts represented by the Illinois Federation of Teachers — run by CTU President Stacy Davis Gates.

Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson is on leave from Chicago Public Schools while his administration negotiates its new contract. If Johnson were to return to CPS, he would be guaranteed a six-figure job.

The first nationwide school choice bill to pass out of committee in U.S. history was just reintroduced. But teachers unions, which killed Illinois’ school choice program in 2023, oppose giving families education options.

The federal filings of the Illinois Federation of Teachers and its national affiliate, the American Federation of Teachers, reveal questionable spending, with little spent on representing teachers, millions spent on politics and deficit spending while the big boss got $500K.

Only $134 of each Chicago Teachers Union member’s dues is actually spent on representing Chicago Public Schools teachers. The rest is spent on other CTU leadership priorities and on the union hierarchy.

The Illinois Federation of Teachers and National Federation of Teachers filed federal reports showing how they spent money in 2020. Little was spent on what most assume is a teachers union’s central mission – representing teachers.