Just 15% to 26% of Illinois teachers union spending was on representing teachers in 2024. But public education employees can opt out of union membership and keep their hard-earned money.
By Mailee Smith | Illinois Policy Institute
Illinois teachers unions have a terrible track record when it comes to spending money on what’s important, but August is when teachers can reclaim their priorities and pay.
The Illinois Education Association and the Illinois Federation of Teachers – the state affiliates representing most teachers in Illinois – spend very little on representing teachers, which should be their core focus. Chicago Teachers Union, a local affiliate of IFT, does just as poorly.
Public education employees upset with the way their unions spend their dues have a choice. They can opt out of union membership and stop sending dues to the union without repercussion. They keep all their employer-provided pay and benefits. And they can obtain liability insurance and job protection coverage at a fraction of the price of union membership.
But time is of the essence. Most teachers unions will only stop deducting dues if teachers opt-out in August.
Illinois teachers unions spend little on teachers
Teachers spend hundreds – and some over a thousand – on union dues each year. But their unions don’t prioritize representing teachers.
The unions’ abysmal spending on teachers is admitted in own their federal filings with the U.S. Department of Labor. It’s a significant indicator that unions take teachers’ money yet don’t put those same teachers’ interests first.
IEA is the largest teachers union in Illinois with 132,565 members, according to its 2024 federal filing. But just 15% of its spending in 2024 was on “representational activities” – what should be its core purpose. The rest was on administration, politics and other union leadership priorities.
Nationally, IEA members are represented by the National Education Association, which fared even worse. Just 9% of its spending was on representing teachers.
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