The union wanted to raise dues as much as $800 a year to pay for its leaders’ political activities.
Members of the Chicago Teachers Union just rejected its leaders’ grab for more money.
The union wanted to increase dues by as much as $800 a year to fund even more political activities.
But according to the union, with 80% of the vote counted, 60% of members voted no on the increase.
It’s no wonder Chicago teachers didn’t want to see more of their paychecks siphoned off for politics. The union’s political spending has already quadrupled since Stacy Davis Gates took over as president in 2022.
In its 2025 fiscal year, the union spent over $4.2 million on “political activities and lobbying” — a record high since CTU started filing annual reports with the U.S. Labor Department.
In the meantime, just 18 cents of every dollar the union spends was on “representational activities,” according to the union’s own accounting.
Representing teachers should be the union’s focus, but its own accounting shows teachers are not CTU leadership’s priority.
Members have also witnessed scandal after scandal since Davis Gates took over the union, from denying members access to required audits to threatening physical violence.
In an FAQ provided to members ahead of the vote, the union also admitted to being investigated by the U.S. Internal Revenue Service and audited by the U.S. Labor Department.
Educators’ rejection of CTU’s money grab sends a clear message: They want union leaders to put teachers and students first — not politics.
