Chicago Teachers Union is a lobbying powerhouse in Springfield, but is that waning?

Mailee Smith

Senior Director of Labor Policy and Staff Attorney

Mailee Smith
Labor
by Mailee Smith
August 29, 2024

Chicago Teachers Union is a lobbying powerhouse in Springfield, but is that waning?

It may be based in Chicago, but the Chicago Teachers Union’s lobbying affects residents throughout Illinois. The Illinois General Assembly did CTU’s bidding on 60% of the bills on which the union took a stance last session. CTU discontent is growing.

The Chicago Teachers Union is a political behemoth and it impacts Illinoisans far beyond the Chicago area, as its Statehouse track record shows.

CTU has funneled nearly $1.3 million to current lawmakers in the Illinois General Assembly since 2010, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. Nearly half of lawmakers have taken money from CTU, and not just those in Chicago.

Half of the lawmakers receiving CTU funds are from outside the city. Nearly 3 of 4 Democratic lawmakers have received CTU cash.

That may not be a smart move for lawmakers. New polling showed 55% of Chicago voters were less likely to vote for politicians who accepted CTU cash.

But does that money translate into corresponding action by lawmakers? CTU’s lobbying track record shows it does.

The union officially registered its position on 59 bills during the 103rd General Assembly, the most recent session. Of those, it supported 54 bills and opposed five bills.

But here’s the kicker: lawmakers passed 32 of the 54 bills CTU supported. That’s a nearly 60% passage rate.

None of the bills it opposed passed.

Taken together, the Illinois General Assembly did what CTU told them to do on more than 6 out of every 10 bills. From charter schools to minimum wage at restaurants, CTU had an opinion. For the most part, lawmakers did the union’s bidding.

That’s more power than any special interest group should have.

Nearly 60% of the bills CTU supported passed the Illinois General Assembly

CTU registered its official support on 54 bills during the 103rd General Assembly. Those bills related to:

Many of the bills CTU supported involved education or educational employment, but that doesn’t mean the bills were in the best interests of students. From the ability to force charter schools to unionize under House Bill 1120 to required instruction in all public schools on climate change in House Bill 4895, CTU supported bills that many families around the state might oppose.

The union also secured the passage of House Bill 2392, which allows teachers to take 10 paid days each school term to do “federal advocacy work,” i.e., politics, for unions’ state affiliates. While the union will pay for a substitute, the district will still be paying the teacher to do political work, and students will be left without their normal teacher.

Other bills had nothing to do with education or teacher employment at all, such as House Bill 5345, which mandates minimum wage for tipped workers. The union also supported Senate Bill 3649. While framed as a union rights bill, it effectively prohibits religious and policy-oriented 501(c)(3) non-profit organizations from requiring their employees to attend meetings about religious or political matters – even if those matters are at the crux of the entity’s existence. The Illinois Policy Institute has filed a lawsuit challenging the law as an unconstitutional restriction on free speech.

Notably, most of the bills CTU supported apply throughout Illinois and not just in the Chicago area. That means CTU’s reach affects students and parents – and, in the case of House Bill 5345 and Senate Bill 3649, businesses – outside its own district.

None of the bills CTU opposed passed the Illinois General Assembly

CTU registered official opposition to five bills. Those bills related to:

None of these bills were passed by the Illinois General Assembly. Only one bill – House Bill 0303, which would have preserved the selective enrollment schools CTU wants to eliminate – passed a single chamber.

And once again, CTU’s lobbying demonstrates it doesn’t have the best interest of students at heart. It opposed House Bill 1573, which would have enabled low-income students to attend private schools that better fit their needs. It also opposed House Bill 1246, which would have ensured parents in school districts of 300 or more students could see a list of the curriculum used in the district in the previous school year.

The union also attacked the ability of school districts to boost their career and technical education departments, opposing a bill that would allow a license for teaching a course in manufacturing, engineering, technology or a trade to be issued to an applicant who has at least 10,000 working hours in a trade.

Again, these bills could have benefited children all over the state – but CTU interfered.

As for Chicago-centric bills, the union opposed a bill that would allow local school councils to contract with Chicago Police Department to have police officers or school resource officers on school grounds. In the meantime, CTU is demanding in contract negotiations that the district remove police from all Chicago schools, regardless of local school preferences.

From local control of school safety to parental rights in education, CTU stepped in and prevented policies from being implemented.

The tide could be turning on CTU’s reputation in Springfield

While CTU exercised considerable control over bills in the 103rd General Assembly, its hold over state government could be waning. The connection between CTU and Mayor Brandon Johnson, who CTU bankrolled into office, may be hurting them both. New polling numbers from early August show 63% of voters disapprove of Johnson’s record. That same poll said 55% of Chicago voters were unlikely to vote for politicians who took money from CTU.

In recent months, CTU and Johnson have called on Springfield to funnel $1.1 billion to Chicago Public Schools after it squandered pandemic aid money. But Gov. J.B. Pritzker had harsh words for CTU.

“I don’t think that that’s the job of Springfield, to rescue the school districts that might have been irresponsible with the one-time money they received,” Pritzker told blogger Rich Miller.

CTU also ruffled lawmakers’ feathers after labeling as “racist” the democratically-sponsored bill aimed at pausing the union’s assault on selective enrollment schools.

As the Chicago Sun-Times put it, CTU tried to “bulldoze” through Springfield a bill on selective enrollment schools – and lost. The news outlet warned Johnson he shouldn’t follow CTU’s example.

When asked if he thought their antics had hurt CTU, Pritzker responded, “I do. I think that when you take it to that extreme, I think there are people that – you heard some of that discussion on the floor by members – that… some were between offended and outraged by what was said.’’

But will that outrage carry into the 104th General Assembly in January, or will lawmakers once again follow CTU’s lead?

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