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Federal documents filed by the National Education Association show just 5% of its total spending was on representing members in 2021. NEA and its state affiliate – the Illinois Education Association – prioritized leadership salaries and politics over teachers.
The Illinois Federation of Teachers in 2021 spent 190 times more on Chicago-area teachers than it did on teachers south of Interstate 80. That could be why IFT membership has shrunk nearly 18% since 2017.
Membership in teachers unions has decreased nearly 10% since 2017, when public educators gained the right to stop handing their pay to unions.
The unions’ own federal reports show 9% of workers have chosen to break away from unions since the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME.
"Our country is so polarized that partisanship is trumping science and trumping historical records," said co-editor-in-chief Amber Payne.