The Chicago Teachers Union Sues Its Critics
The lawsuit, filed in Cook County Circuit Court, argues the defendants had a strategy of “falsely accusing CTU of ‘cooking the books,’” and other misconduct, so as to “weaken CTU in the eyes of its members, Chicago students and their families, voters, and the broader community.” Those criticisms, and the use by the Illinois Policy Institute and Mr. Berg of the word “toxic” to describe CTU, show intent to harm the union, the suit argues.
According to CTU, its approval among Chicago residents has fallen “from 70% to 28%.” That first figure looks high, since a public poll in early 2023 shows 44%. In any case, much of CTU’s legal complaint concerns criticism of its years of delayed financial audits. CTU bylaws say the union must annually “furnish an audited report” that “shall be printed in the Union’s publication.” The Liberty Justice Center and four CTU members sued in 2024, asking to force the union to comply. The audits have since been produced, and that suit is still pending.
In CTU’s telling, the “finalization” of the audits was “delayed for innocuous reasons,” including Covid and staff turnover. The Liberty Justice Center was aware of its explanation, CTU says, since it came up in the previous case. Yet the defendants kept criticizing the union, saying it needed to “come clean” and tweeting a mock picture of a cookbook entitled “Cooking the Books.”
