August is teacher opt out time: know your rights as an Illinois public school employee

By Hannah Schmid

08/11/2023

Educators and other public school employees in Illinois can opt out of union membership in August and stop paying dues.

TAGS: IEA-NEA: Illinois Education Association, IFT: Illinois Federation of Teachers, opt out

Over 23,000 Illinois public school employees leave unions

By Hannah Schmid

04/14/2022

Membership in teachers unions has decreased nearly 10% since 2017, when public educators gained the right to stop handing their pay to unions.

TAGS: Illinois, opt out, public schools, teachers union

Chicago teachers who don’t want to walk out on students have options

By Mailee Smith

01/05/2022

The Chicago Teachers Union refused to return to classrooms Jan. 5. Teachers who recognize the failings of remote learning and want to be there for their students have options.

TAGS: CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, opt out

Over 22,000 Illinois school employees stop handing their pay to a union

By Mailee Smith

08/12/2021

Educators across Illinois are exercising their rights, with over 22,000 fewer school employees sending dues or fees to teachers unions than in 2017.

TAGS: IEA-NEA: Illinois Education Association, IFT: Illinois Federation of Teachers, opt out, teachers union

Chicago teachers who don’t want to strike have options

By Mailee Smith

01/25/2021

Chicago Public Schools teachers face a tough decision in the coming days: While the district is set to reopen K-8 schools for the first time since March 2020, the Chicago Teachers Union is calling for teachers to take collective action and refuse to return to classrooms. Whether refusing to work in person would constitute an...

TAGS: COVID-19, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, opt out, strike

Chicago teachers who don’t want to fund CTU leadership’s politics have options

By Mailee Smith, Vincent Caruso

01/30/2020

Leaders of Illinois’ largest local teachers’ union received swift blowback after their latest push into public politics. Members dissatisfied with the priorities of their union’s leadership deserve to know they have other options.

TAGS: Chicago, CPS: Chicago Public Schools, CTU: Chicago Teachers Union, government unions, Jesse Sharkey, Kim Foxx, labor, Lori Lightfoot, Nicolas Maduro, opt out, public sector, Stacy Davis Gates, strike, Venezuela

Unlocking Opportunity: How Occupational Licensing Reform Would Promote Equitable Empowerment in Illinois

Illinois finds itself at a crossroads: will it empower minorities and poor people to unleash their potential, or will it perpetuate an inequitable status quo? For far too many Illinoisans, opportunity is unfairly and unnecessarily out of reach. Illinois ranks in the bottom ten among all states in social mobility and last among Midwest states...

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Unlocking Opportunity: How Occupational Licensing Reform Would Promote Equitable Empowerment in Illinois

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Brandi Lentz

Process for unionizing non-state workers raises red flags

CBS Chicago: Illinois’ highest-paid superintendent receives $400K per year to oversee 1,200 students