In a move reminiscent of Cold War-era attacks on UE, the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee, fueled by misinformation from far-right political groups, has demanded five years’ worth of financial audits from the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU). This is a clear attempt to discredit one of the most militant and effective unions in the U.S., and a close UE ally.
The groups behind this attack, the Illinois Policy Institute and its legal arm, the Liberty Justice Center, are the same outfits that initiated the 2018 anti-union Janus decision which stripped union security provisions from public-sector unions across the country. Far from being a model of financial transparency itself, IPI has faced calls for investigation into abuse of its nonprofit status from Members of Congress and the Chicago Sun-Times.
This is the result of a coordinated attack, not just on CTU, but on public education, workers’ rights, and democracy. CTU, like UE, is a democratic, rank-and-file union, and its bylaws ensure that financial audits are available to any union member for review. Detailed financials are also publicly available through legally-required filings (LM2s, 990s, PACs). Instead of harassing CTU, the House Education and Workforce Committee — which has also made frivolous requests of UE — should be investigating the dismantling of the Department of Education, the $12 billion in cuts to education in the FY 2026 budget, and the administration’s firing of nearly half of Department of Education employees last year.
For more information, see this update from the CTU website.