UNION NEWS: Will CTU leaders really be 'transparent' at the union's monthly House of Delegates meeting... In addition to the CTU budget, members have been waiting more than a year for all the details on PAC and 'Foundation' spending...
As more and more delegates and members of the Chicago Teachers Union ask how the union is spending their dues money, which has now reached more than $1,100 per year for teacher members (and the same for those who pay Agency Fee), the June meeting of the HOD is scheduled for the debate over the union's annual budget. Also on peoples' minds are the two questions about how the long-promised "full transparency" about union spending will actually take place.
For the first time in the more than 75 year history of the CTU, the union has not been providing the union's members with a complete, itemized list of every dollar spent from the union's PAC (Political Action Committee) funds. Additionally, in 2016, the union's four officers are in charge of spending the money from the "Chicago Teachers Union Foundation." The Foundation, as revealed first in the Chicago Sun-Times, but not directly to the union's members, is a 501(c) corporation, a charitable foundation that has to give a certain amount of money every year to not-for-profit charities. There has to date been no full "transparent" report to the union's HOD or members on the exact spending from either.
By: Rod Estvan
The Foundation
The records of the Foundation will indicate that Access Living recieve funding for two years which we deeply appreciated. We were not funded for FY 17.
Last week Access Living was forced to inform staff of the closing of the numerous positions due to the fact that the State of Illinois owes our organization around $730,000. The past contribution from the Chicago Teacers Union Foundation helped us enormously.
Rod Estvan
Education policy analyst
Access Living of Chicago