When Chicago Teachers Union President Marilyn Stewart appeared before the Chicago Board of Education at its January 10, 2006 meeting (above) the union’s members did not know that increased pay and benefits for her top staff were slowly bankrupting the 31,000-member union. Surrounding Marilyn above are (left to right): Coleen Dykas; Peter Ardito; Sandy Schultz; and Traci Cobb Evans. By the time this photograph was taken, coordinators such as those above were being paid for a ‘53-week year’ and had unprecedented fringe benefits. Two years later, many of the deals are still secret. Substance photo by George N. Schmidt.
