Merry Christmas from the Chicago Teachers Union! 🎄 Wishing you and yours peace and joy this holiday season.

CTU on the Recent Supreme Court Ruling on Trump’s Effort to Deploy the National Guard in Illinois

In this powerful piece, Elizabeth Todd-Breland reminds us that taxing wealthy corporations isn’t radical - it’s history. From the New Deal to the original corporate head tax, working people built this city, and corporations were expected to contribute to the public good.

CTU Statement on the Chicago City Budget. We fought for a budget that puts people first and we won. The Corporate Caucus tried to force cuts that would’ve hurt working families. But our organizing made them back down.

Thousands of Chicagoans from every ward in the city pushed back… and they noticed! Your phone banks, protests, ward meetings, and rallies made a difference. The corporate caucus had to walk their proposal waaaaaaay back We’re winning, but we have to keep pushing. Call your alderperson today!

During public comment at City Hall, CTU Director of OrganizingCasey Sweeneyspoke for what people across Chicago are already saying. Corporations can afford to chip in. Working families can’t afford higher fees, fines, or debt collectors knocking on their doors.

CTU’s Davis Gates on Federal Cuts to Community School Programs

312 NEWS | City Budget Play-By-Play They say the budget is “balanced”—but here’s what’s actually in it: • Bag tax • A burglar alarm tax on people protecting their homes • More ads on light poles and snowplows? All instead of taxing wealthy corporations. This is the “Trust Us” Budget.

No garbage tax? Good. Saving youth jobs? Great. We pushed, they folded. But this doesn’t mean the Civic Federation has a balanced budget. Show the math—and stop making working people the piggy bank. Tax wealthy corporations.

Opposition Alders Must Answer Who They Serve: “Financial Advisors” or Supermajority of Chicagoans Who Support Taxing Ultra-Wealthy Corporations, Not Working Families

The TRiiBE reporting shows the plan stacks regressive fees while refusing a modest surcharge on major corporations. The TriiBE also reports that several alders fighting the head tax have received thousands from billionaire Michael Sacks, now funding a campaign to protect corporate profits.

Mayor Brandon Johnson is doing what City Hall should be doing right now: fighting to keep Chicago open AND refusing to balance the budget on the backs of working people. City Council has one real decision in front of them: Tax ultra-wealthy corporations or shut down Chicago.

Across the 10th Ward,hundreds of school jobscould disappear, gutting classrooms and destabilizing school communities that already deserve more, not less. The Mayor’s budget proposal provides a historic $1 billion TIF surplus to invest in our schools, libraries and parks.

🎶 Here’s the story… of the Corporate Bunch — These Alders are marching to a corporate playbook. No taxes on big business — just higher garbage fees, liquor taxes, and health premiums for everyday Chicagoans.

🕎 Hanukkah is a reminder of the power of light to overcome darkness. As we celebrate this holiday season, we wish you and yours a Happy Hanukkah. 🕯️

Chicago youth showed up at City Hall with one message: don’t take away the very opportunities that made this city safer. Youth are calling it out plain and simple: You can’t curfew your way to safety. You invest your way there. City Council needs to vote yes on the Protecting Chicago Budget.

City council is pushing us toward a government shutdown because some alders refuse to tax corporations and would ratherraise garbage fees and cut youth jobs instead. Every major peer city taxes big business more than Chicago. So why are some alders blocking it?

Chicago is heading for a shutdown because alders in the Corporate Caucus won’t commit to taxing wealthy corporationsdespite rising costs on working families. Our schools, our safety, and the workers who make this city run are not bargaining chips. Tell your alder:Keep Chicago open. Tax the rich.

We broughtTax the RichChristmas carols to the Commercial Club’s holiday dinner because too many alders are helping these CEOs push a city budget that makes working families pay more while wealthy corporations pay nothing. Chicago needs leaders who stand with the families, not with billionaires.

As federal agents swept Chicago’s Southwest Side, CPS moms didn’t wait for permission to act. This group of parent mentors startedfood drives, organized rides to school, and kept supporting students in their classrooms — all at the same time.

A countdown clock is running — and it shows exactly how many days are left for City Council toprotect Chicago’s schools, youth jobs, and city servicesbefore a shutdown becomes real. Check out keepchicagoopen.com/. Learn what’s at stake. Call Your Alder: Tax the Corporations Not Working Families.

When School Board Member Jitu Brown talks about the status quo, he’s talking about what our communities live every day. The Protecting Chicago Budget is about ending that sabotage and investing $1 billion back into our communities. Call your alder and tell them tochoose people over profits.

Breaking News: We just released a new poll that shows the vast majority (74%) of Chicagoans are less likely to vote for alders who vote for raising their taxes instead of the top 3% of corporations.

West Side teacher and CPS alum Wallace Wilbourn sees what’s at stake up close: without this budget, schools across Chicago will be left with skeleton crews in the middle of the year. Passing the Protecting Chicago Budget means taxing ultra-wealthy corporations instead of squeezing working families.

As members of the Corporate Caucus in City Council threaten shutting down the city in opposition to reinstating the corporate head tax cancelled by Rahm Emanuel, a new poll conducted by Lake Research Partners shows Chicagoans overwhelming support raising taxes on the top 3% of corporations.

We’ve checked our list. We’ve checked it twice. And some Alders are siding with ultra-wealthy corporations instead of working families. They’re on the naughty list, and we’re rolling out the receipts. Tell your Alder to get off that list — and vote YES on a Protecting Chicago Budget

WTTW reports what Chicagoans have been saying for weeks: the math doesn’t math. The Corporate Caucus’s “alternative budget” is built on bad math and hidden costs for working families. The Protecting Chicago Budget is grounded in real numbers& real programs, not by doubling garbage fees.

Cook County Commissioner and CTU member Tara Stamps breaks down big news: Cook County Promise, the guaranteed income pilot, is being extended with an additional $7.5 million to support even more families! This is the first permanent county-wide guaranteed income program in the country.

Mayor Brandon Johnson’s administration officially reviewed the Corporate Caucus proposal and rejected almost every idea as either unwise or unworkable. The choice is clearer than ever: Make billion-dollar corporations pay their share, not the people who keep this city running.

🎅 Santa suits, sleigh bells, and cold streets: all to send one clear message: Tax the ultra-wealthy, not working Chicagoans. While we fight for a fair budget, some Grinch alders are trying to gut support for working families. Call your alder and tell them vote YES on the Protecting Chicago Budget.

Coalitions including the CTU, the Public Health and Safety Campaign, and People’s Unity Platform Release New Budget Countdown Website:KeepChicagoOpen.com

🎅🏽Santa got arrested for protecting youth jobs. We have grinch Alders who would rather squeeze working-class families than tax the ultra-wealthy corporations. Tax the rich. Call your alder and tell them to pass the Protecting Chicago’s budget.

At the 18th Street Pink Line, Reverend Tanya Lozano asked one simple question: Who should pay for this city: the working families who make it run or the billionaires who keep getting a free ride? Chicagoans didn’t hesitate. Ping-pong ball after ping-pong ball landed in the same tube: Tax the rich.

A group of alders is out here calling themselves “Common Sense Caucus" while pushing a budget full of fee hikes oneverything regular people touch. The Protecting Chicago Budget is theonlyplan that protects schools and youth jobs withoutjacking up fees on working families.

Chicago’s own school board members are sounding the alarm: If City Council blocks the Protecting Chicago Budget,schools will feel it first with staffing cuts and fewer programs. Tell your alder:Vote YES on the Protecting Chicago Budget. Read more: blockclubchicago.org/2025/11/26/c...

Your alder has a choice: Invest in our school communities or protect ultra-wealth corporations and downtown developers. Use our new calculator to see how much your school stands to lose if City Council votes against the historic $1 billion TIF surplus. protectingchicagoschools.com/

Members of City Council just sent a loud and clear message to Chicagoans. 25 alders would rather protect the biggest corporations in Chicago than protect you from another property tax hike. Call your alder. Tell them to vote YES on the Protecting Chicago Budget.

Thank you to all guest teachers, clinicians, and PSRPs! Your flexibility, dedication, and willingness to step in and step up make a tremendous difference for Chicago’s students and school communities. We appreciate you, today and every day. #SubstituteEducatorsDay

CTU: Violence at Bright Shows the Need for City, State and CPS to Join Educators and Community Members to Fill Budget Gaps, Provide Safe Passage, Restorative Justice and After-School Programming

Chicago City Council Voted with Ultra Wealthy Corporations and Against Chicago’s Families Today, Now They Have to Actually Present Their Own Ideas

Trumpet Papi hit the Belmont Cragin Blue Line with one question: who should pay for Chicago’s budget? And the message was clear: Chicagoans want the wealthiest corporations to pay their fair share, working families have paid enough. Tell your alder to vote yes on the Protecting Chicago Budget.

Grocery taxes, garbage taxes, beer taxes, property taxes, rising rents — Chicagoans can’t shoulder any more. City Council has a choice: protect Chicago’s working families OR give in to ultra-wealthy corporations. ctu.sh/budget

CTU Responds to Senate Spending Deal and Government Reopening

This Veterans Day, veterans, educators, and union members came together to sayNO to war on our cities. We stood with@vetsaboutface - Veterans Against the War,Illinois National Guard members, and allies demanding an end to ICE raids, federal occupation, and billionaire-backed austerity.

At this year’s Baile de Muertos, CTU members came together to honor life, culture, and struggle — celebrating Latine heritage while standing united with Black, Brown, and immigrant communities across Chicago. Our communities will continue to organize, celebrate, and protect each other.

CTU’s Research Director Pavlyn Jankovmakes clear that while Trump gives big corporations like Salesforce over $1 billion a year in tax cuts while working families are left to shoulder rising costs. Tag your alder in the comments and tell them: stand with working families, not the billionaires.

Speaking outside Benito Juarez High School, Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez denounced ICE’s violent assault on students in Little Village. He vowed that Chicago’s educators, families, and neighbors willstand between our children and federal attacks terrorizing our Black, brown, and immigrant communities.

Last week at the Board meeting, Ayola Showola from EPIC Academy highlighted the power of dedicated educators and community support. Thanks to collective efforts, the Board approved $1.4 million to keep EPIC open through the year. This is a testament to educators standing up for their students.

Thursday, educators, childcare workers, and community partners stood together to demand that Salesforce, Inc. stop profiting from the Trump administration’s deportation machine. Families are living in fear while Salesforce collects over $1B in tax breaks and avoids paying its fair share in Chicago.

CTU E-Board member, Dr. Venisa Beasley-Green, took the mic in Springfield during our Lobby Day with a message for Gov. Pritzker and lawmakers: “Our students and teachers should not be a gamble. Bet on your schools.” Governor Pritzker can still act. It’s time to tax the rich to fund our schools.