CTU Leadership Wants More Political Power; And Taxpayers Will Pay for It
CHICAGO— According to documents published by the Illinois Policy Institute, CTU leadership is pushing an $8.5 million dues increase that could cost some Chicago teachers up to $800 more per year, while openly acknowledging the money would help fund political efforts to “win” school board elections.
The proposed dues hike is about far more than internal union politics. It is part of the same cycle that continues driving up costs for taxpayers and working families across Illinois.
“Chicago taxpayers already feel like they exist to fund the endless demands of the Chicago Teachers Union,” said Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Don Tracy.“As CTU gains and leverages political power over CPS, taxpayers eventually get the bill through higher property taxes.
“This isn’t just about teachers paying more in dues. It’s about CTU leadership collecting millions more dollars to elect politicians who support even more spending, resist reforms, fight accountability, block educational opportunity, expand bureaucracy, and push taxpayers for more and more money.
“CPS has billions in unfunded pension obligations. CPS enrollment declines while taxpayers pay more per student. At one CPS school, it is said there are more staff than students. As the CTU political machine gains more and more political power, working families and businesses pay more to finance their special interest agenda which includes excess staffing but does not include significant CPS student improvement. Is that the ‘Illinois Blueprint’ Juliana Stratton and her allies want to export to the rest of the nation?
“For homeowners in the suburbs, this especially matters because property taxes are already crushing suburban family budgets, and unfortunately what happens bad in Chicago doesn’t always stay in Chicago.
“Teachers deserve professional representation that focuses on improving classroom teaching, reducing student and teacher absenteeism, and empowering student learning. Instead, in the CTU they have a political machine that docks their paychecks for more political power.
Illinoisans deserve government leaders who will work to lower the cost-of-living including property taxes, not career politicians allied with extreme special interests who treat property taxpayers like an ATM.”
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About Don Tracy:
Don is Senior Counsel at Brown, Hay & Stephens, the oldest law firm in Illinois, where Abraham Lincoln famously practiced law for four years. Public service is important to Don, with a lifetime spent in community service, most often in volunteer positions. He has served as Chairman of the Illinois Republican Party, Chairman of the Illinois Gaming Board, Secretary of the Illinois Bar Foundation, President of the Sangamon County Bar Association, Chairman of the Illinois Corporate Acts Advisory Committee, and President of the Abraham Lincoln Association, President of the Oak Ridge Cemetery Board, among other community leadership positions. Born in Urbana, raised in Mt. Sterling in Western Illinois, and having raised his own family in Springfield in Central Illinois, Don has deep ties to "downstate Illinois." As the oldest of 12 children, family has always been important to Don.