Chicago Teachers Union Faces Scrutiny Over Audits

Got story updates? Submit your updates here. ›

The Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) has resisted making its financial audits public, but records recently obtained by the House Education and Workforce Committee show the union's finances have not always received a clean slate from its official independent auditor. Between 2020 and 2024, the union issued two sets of financial statements, one including the Chicago Teachers Union Foundation Inc. and the Children and Teachers Foundation of the Chicago Teachers Union, and another excluding those entities. The version without the foundations received adverse opinions from the auditors, who stated the entities should have been consolidated under accounting principles.

Why it matters

The adverse audit opinions raise questions about the transparency and financial management of the powerful Chicago Teachers Union, which has been at the center of several high-profile labor disputes in recent years. The union's resistance to making its audits public has also drawn scrutiny from lawmakers.

The details

The House Education and Workforce Committee has been seeking the CTU's audit records since November 2025, and the union finally complied by posting the audits on its members-only portal. The audits include adverse opinion letters from the union's auditing firms, Calibre and Legacy, stating that the union's financial statements were materially incorrect or did not accurately present the union's financial position due to the exclusion of the Chicago Teachers Union Foundation Inc. and the Children and Teachers Foundation of the Chicago Teachers Union.

• The House Education and Workforce Committee has been seeking the CTU's audit records since November 2025.
• The CTU recently produced audits going back to 2020.

What’s next

The House Education and Workforce Committee is likely to continue its investigation into the CTU's financial practices and transparency.