Less than 22% of voters approve of the Chicago Teachers Union. No surprise, considering the scandals and radical dogma pushed by its two top leaders.
New polling shows the Chicago Teachers Union earned approval from just 21.7% of voters, with 56% holding an unfavorable view, according to the Illinois Policy Institute’s latest Lincoln Poll.
The poll also found nearly half of voters would be less likely to vote for a candidate who took money from a teachers union.
In case union members are wondering who’s to blame for waning popularity and influence, they might start with CTU’s bosses.
CTU President Stacy Davis Gates’s tenure has been riddled with scandal, proving she is more concerned with politics and power than the students in Chicago Public Schools or taxpayers who support them. She’s skated on her own property taxes, withheld financial records, tried to incite violence, sent her kid to private school while denying that choice to others and refused to pay her city utility bills on time.
Her right-hand man, CTU Vice President Jackson Potter, has his own baggage. He’s profited from his position, undermined what’s best for students and pushed a Socialist agenda.
Potter’s issues have been relatively unnoticed compared to Davis Gates’. Here are three things to know about Potter.
1) Potter’s family profits from CTU
Potter is both the vice president of CTU and a vice president with the Illinois Federation of Teachers, CTU’s state affiliate. Potter in 2024 earned nearly $147,000 from those roles, according to U.S. Department of Labor filings.
Potter is paid nearly 70% more than the average CPS teacher, who makes $86,439 and pays CTU over $1,400 a year. His compensation is 258% more than the median CPS paraprofessional, who earns just $41,000 and pays CTU $823.
Potter’s mother, Robin Potter, also receives significant compensation thanks to CTU.
In 2021, CTU reached a $9.25 million settlement against CPS over discrimination allegations. There were 413 teachers laid off following school closures in 2012, 2013 and 2014, based on academic metrics. But CTU claimed the layoffs disproportionately targeted Black teachers.
Three named plaintiffs received $25,000 each. The remaining union members involved in the suit received an average of $12,700 each. Robin Potter’s firm collected a $4 million fee.
Also, between 2018 and 2023, CTU paid Robin Potter’s law firm nearly $320,000. That includes more than $32,900 for undisclosed services.
2) Potter’s stances hurt kids and their families
Jackson Potter is opposed to giving parents any choices regarding their children’s educations. He opposes charter schools, vehemently opposed a privately-funded program giving low-income kids scholarships and has been instrumental in the union walking out on students.
At a public rally, Potter expressed his opposition to charter schools by dismissing them as “private tyrannies.” He accused charter schools of stockpiling public dollars while slashing student services.
Potters claims ignore the reality that many charter schools operate with less per pupil funding than traditional CPS neighborhood schools. They primarily serve low-income, Black and Latino students.
Potter has a pattern of limiting schooling options, especially for low-income families. He worked to kill to the state’s successful Invest in Kids scholarship program which provided scholarships to over 15,000 low-income students who otherwise could not attend a school that best fits their needs.
Potter has also kept CPS students out of school.
Potter helped establish the Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators in 2010, the militant slate of leaders now presiding over CTU. Since that caucus took power, CTU has walked out on students or gone on strike at least five times between 2012 and 2022: a seven-day 2012 strike, a one-day political strike in 2016, an 11-day strike in 2019 and additional walk-outs in 2021 and 2022. CTU also kept students out of schools for most of the 2020-2021 school year, despite the state school closure mandate being lifted before the start of the school year.
3) Potter is a Socialist who supports an extreme agenda
Jackson Potter openly aligns himself with the Democratic Socialists of America, calling for defunding the police and banks. During a 2024 Socialist Forum panel, he endorsed a sweeping Socialist agenda, including calls for free college, government housing and taxpayer-funded services for tens of thousands of families.
Most recently, he publicly celebrated New York State Assembly member and fellow Socialist Zohran Mamdani’s primary upset in the New York City mayoral race. Jackson Potter praised Mamdani’s refusal to “compromise toward the center.”
CTU’s leadership has faced growing scrutiny over its questionable finances, political agenda and lack of accountability to its members. It has operated under a budget deficit, failed to publish required audits and directed millions in member dues toward political campaigns without direct input from its membership.
It spends just 20 cents of every $1 it gets on representing its members, which should be Job No. 1 for a union.
Davis Gates and Jackson Potter have done little to fight for teachers relative to their busy roles as political activists pushing a radical agenda on the teachers and families of Chicago. No wonder so few voters have a favorable view of CTU, and that’s before they know how the new contract and a $734 million CPS budget hole will impact their taxes.
CPS teachers have options. They can opt out of the union and keep their hard-earned money rather than funding CTU’s misplaced priorities. Learn more at LeaveCTU.com.
