House Committee Demands Chicago Teachers Union Produce Missing Financial Audits — Unredacted Reports Due Dec. 8, 2025

The House Education and Workforce Committee has opened a formal inquiry into the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), saying evidence indicates the union has not provided complete audited financial reports to members for several years. In a letter to CTU leadership, the committee says full annual audits have not been published since 2019 and that complete audits have not been provided to members since 2020, raising questions about how union dues have been spent.

What the committee is asking for

The committee has ordered CTU to produce by Dec. 8, 2025:

• All unredacted audited financial reports for 2019 through 2024;
• Board of Trustees meeting minutes or equivalent records beginning Sept. 9, 2020 (the date when members first requested audits); and
• All written member requests for audits submitted since Sept. 9, 2020, along with the union’s responses.

"When unions flout these obligations, they betray the trust of the very people they are meant to serve… Every dollar paid by workers should serve their interests, not those of a select few operating in the shadows," the committee wrote.

Transparency concerns and possible reforms

The committee said CTU’s alleged failure to publish full audits violates the union’s own bylaws, which require the financial secretary to publish an audited report in the union newsletter and the Board of Trustees to obtain an annual audit made available for member inspection. Lawmakers warned that the shortfall in transparency may justify strengthening the federal Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) of 1959 so members receive more timely, detailed financial disclosures.

Among the reports cited by the committee are allegations that CTU President Stacy Davis Gates and other leaders dismissed member audit requests and characterized them as racially motivated "dog whistles," a response the committee said it will examine as part of its inquiry into the breakdown in transparency.

Related oversight and local context

The committee’s review follows an inspector general report issued Nov. 12 that found Chicago Public Schools (CPS) staff used approximately $7 million in COVID-relief funds for luxury hotels, conferences in Las Vegas and international travel, with additional findings that at least $18 million in travel between 2021 and 2024 lacked proper approval. These findings, the committee noted, have heightened scrutiny of local education finances and governance.

Separately, state data show local education challenges: 43.2% of CPS teachers logged 10 or more absences during the 2024–25 school year, and interim CPS CEO Macquline King reported total enrollment of 316,224 in September — a 2.8% decline from the prior year.

Federal labor law requires unions to file annual financial reports with the U.S. Department of Labor to promote transparency and guard against misuse of funds. The committee said its investigation will explore how disclosure failures occurred and whether legislative changes are needed to better protect union members’ rights. CTU has not publicly provided the requested documents as of the committee's deadline notice.