Tip of the Iceberg -- Teachers in IL need Right to Work!
Kyle Olsen takes an in-depth look at union disclosure forms for the Illinois Teacher's union and finds why the union bosses hate to disclose their spending orgy to union members. The Illinois Education Association is reeling from a very bad 2009-2010 fiscal year, caused in no small part by the union’s exorbitant expenditures on parties, meetings and salaries, Education Action Group recently found. In its annual LM-2 report, on file with the United States Department of Labor, the IEA reveals that it started the previous fiscal year with $2.6 million in net assets, and just 12 months later is in the hole by $11.8 million. A number of factors apparently contributed to the union’s sudden financial plunge. It’s pension liability for its employees skyrocketed over the past year, from $8.2 million in 2009 to $26.6 million in 2010. But the report also reveals that IEA officials spent freely on salaries and benefits for high-ranking staff members, as well as social events the union hosted in Chicago, San Diego and New Orleans.