The Chicago Teachers Union has fallen years behind in fulfilling its obligation to provide members with an independent audit of its finances. While keeping the educators it represents in the dark, the union spent roughly $15.8 million supporting left-of-center political campaigns, according to public records. Now it faces a congressional investigation over its financial situation.
Records show that the Chicago Teachers Union’s most recent publicly available independent audit only covered the union’s finances as of June 2019. The Republican-led House Committee on Education and Workforce, in a Nov. 20 letter, alleged that this “strips dues-paying members of their basic right to understand how their money is spent” and runs afoul of the organization’s bylaws, which require such audits regularly. Since June 2019, the amount of money the union has given to liberal politicians and political action committees, other than its own, has been steadily increasing.
In 2019, the Chicago Teachers Union’s political action committee, receiving funding from the union treasury, spent $1.7 million on donations to candidates for public office. That figure declined to $1.4 million in 2020, dipped slightly to $1.2 million in 2021, then rose to $1.9 million in 2022, exploded to over $3.6 million in 2023, and grew again to roughly $5 million in 2024, according to campaign finance filings.
Among the individuals to receive the most money from the Chicago Teachers Union while its members were barred from accessing independently audited financial information were Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson (D), the Illinois Federation of Teachers’ PAC, and Chicago Board of Education member Ebony DeBerry. Some individuals that the Chicago Teachers Union threw the most money behind, such as school board candidates Jason Dones and Felix Ponce, who ultimately failed to win election to office. Johnson and DeBerry, meanwhile, have been staunch allies of the teachers union.
The lack of transparency from the Chicago Teachers Union spurred some members of the labor organization to sue it in October 2024, demanding an audit.
Critics have argued that union members may have good reason to be concerned about the state of the union’s finances.
Analyses from the Illinois Policy Institute have found that the union spending on representational activities, operations associated with representing workers, declined from just 20% in 2024 to 18% in 2025. Furthermore, an inspector general’s report released on November 12 found that Chicago Public Schools staff spent $7 million in COVID-19 relief funds on trips to international destinations, stays in luxury hotels, and Las Vegas conferences.
CHICAGO TEACHERS UNION GOT LAST-SECOND FUNDING FROM THE BIDEN EPA
“By withholding complete financial audits from its members, CTU has failed to uphold the spirit of union transparency or comply with its own bylaws,” the House Committee on Education and Workforce wrote in its November 20 letter to the Chicago Teachers Union. “As such, the Committee is investigating this matter to better determine whether the [Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act] should be amended to strengthen its requirements so that union members have access to more robust and timely financial information. Every dollar paid by workers should serve their interests, not those of a select few operating in the shadows.”
The Chicago Teachers Union, however, has agreed to cooperate with the committee’s requests, though its lawyers insist that the investigation is a “waste of time.”
“We represent the Chicago Teachers Union in connection with the requests for documents contained in your letter of November 20, 2025,” a letter from the union’s legal representation that was shared with the Washington Examiner read. ‘We will respond to the House Committee on Education and Workforce and cooperate with any legitimate requests. Indeed, we have already been in touch with Committee staff regarding the schedule for producing responsive documents and will produce them on or before December 22. We are confident that our responses will fully answer any legitimate questions and address the allegations contained in your letter.”
The letter further maintained that the union made its late financial audits available to members through an internal portal after the October 2024 lawsuit brought by its members regarding them.
