"Our clients are educators and longtime members of the union who are suing because they are owed an audit from CTU that is four years late," says attorney Dean McGee of Liberty Justice Center, the law firm
representing the union members/educators. "The Chicago Teachers Union has a constitution and bylaws and that is a contractual obligation with their members, and it requires them every year to publish an audit to their members."
McGee says the last time they actually published an audit was in September of 2020 when it released an audited report up through the first half of 2019.
"So, really, the 25,000-plus educators in Chicago who pay their dues to the union have not received audited financials directly from the union in well over four years."
The lawsuit is filed in Cook County, Illinois (Chicago), which is the original home of Liberty Justice Center. The law firm does not have a timeline on when it will be in court, but McGee says the firm does plan to proceed as promptly as it can because "it's been a long time coming" for the clients.
AFN is seeking comment from CTU, but McGee says the union has already weighed in on the matter.
"Union President Stacy Davis Gates took retaliatory action against our clients when she learned through her lawyers the names of our clients prior to filing," says McGee.
Turns out that request was not for legal preparation but public intimidation.
"She announced their names individually, our four clients who filed, on a member-wide CTU call Tuesday night telling their fellow members that they were part of the extreme right-wing and trying to tie this lawsuit to Project 2025, so that's the length they're willing to go to attack their own members rather than just provide transparency to them," McGee said.
A work of The Heritage Foundation, Project 2025 is designed as a comprehensive blueprint for any conservative presidential administration.
Donald Trump has gone to great lengths to distance himself from Project 2025.
Working against superintendent
Recently the union gained attention for attempting to block the possible closure or consolidation of at least 100 struggling schools as identified by Chicago Public Schools CEO Pedro Martinez.
Martinez has pledged to work to keep the schools open, according to Wirepoints.org.
The district has lost more than 110,000 students over the last 20 years.
“The drop in enrollment has been overwhelmingly driven by a 50% drop in black attendance – down by about 115,000. The fact that crime continues undeterred in the city and that black reading proficiency levels for graduating students remains stuck at near 10% are sure to be contributing factors to their flight,” the news outlet wrote.
