Chicago Teachers Union Makes $50B Demands: Abortions, Illegal Aliens, and Pay Hikes

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has demanded another $50 billion in funding for several more left-wing priorities that have nothing to do with teaching, including abortion-on-demand, and new services and facilities for illegal aliens.

As reported by Fox News, the union’s demands by CTU President Stacy Davis Gates were revealed through a leaked document confirming the wide array of requirements and the staggering price tag, which nearly matches the tax revenue of the entire state of Illinois.

Gates’ list includes a demand that all CTU members be given a wage increase of at least 9% each year through Fiscal Year 2028; the average salary of a Chicago teacher is currently $93,182. If the demands were implemented, that would be increased to $144,620 by the 2027-2028 academic year, which would be more than twice the average household income in Chicago.

The demands also include a requirement that each of the 646 schools in the Chicago Public Schools (CPS) system be given a “newcomer liaison” tasked with dealing with illegal alien children who enter the system, while also converting unused school facilities into housing for illegals. The CTU list further demands 100% coverage benefits for abortion, along with 100% coverage for fertility, such as the storage of frozen embryos.

For comparison, the CPS budget is currently estimated to be roughly $9 billion just this year alone, which itself was an increase of nearly 30% from $7.4 billion in 2019. The total tax base receipts for the entire state of Illinois in 2023 was roughly $50.7 billion, thus reflecting the absurdity of the CTU’s excessively expensive demands.

The CTU continues to wield immense power in Illinois politics, particularly in Chicago. The current mayor, Brandon Johnson (D-Ill.), formerly worked as a legislative coordinator for the union; his mayoral campaign was propped up by the union in order to have a progressive challenger against the more moderate Paul Vallas (D-Ill.). As of June of 2023, the CTU has funneled over $2.6 million into Johnson’s re-election campaign.

The union has come under fire for its poor performance in restoring education levels and quality after the Chinese Coronavirus pandemic. During and after the pandemic, the CTU repeatedly refused to go back to in-person teaching even after the CPS and then-Mayor Lori Lightfoot (D-Ill.) demanded a return to regular school; the union used its position as leverage to demand multiple new benefits for teachers, none of which had anything to do with their jobs. Meanwhile, the Nation’s Report Card revealed that only 21% of eighth graders in Chicago are proficient in reading.