[The74] Illinois’s second-largest teachers union is pushing lawmakers to impose new taxes on billionaires and wealthy corporations to help close school budget deficits. The move comes as Stacy Davis Gates, president of the Chicago Teachers Union and an advocate for the tax increases, becomes president of the Illinois Federation of Teachers.
"Here’s the punchline: We have to tax the rich," Davis Gates said at an Oct. 29 rally in Springfield, Illinois. "It is not because we just think that they’re not doing enough, it’s because we do our fair share and then some, and we need a little more help. It’s fair."
The state’s education funding formula was revised in 2017 with an infusion of money designed to ensure districts reach at least 90% of adequate funding levels by 2027. A recent advocacy report found that while this change improved some school budgets, districts won’t reach full funding until at least 2038, "leaving an entire generation of students without access to an adequately funded education."
"We need our Illinois lawmakers to deliver — they have already promised us those funds but they have not delivered," said Cyndi Oberle-Dahm, the statewide union’s executive vice president. "Over one-third of Illinois school districts are funded at 76% or less. The only way we are going to fix this is to have a new revenue structure."
The Illinois Federation of Teachers — which has 103,000 members and more than 200 chapters including the Chicago Teachers Union — said in a statement that the lack of adequate resources has caused districts to struggle with meeting legal requirements for special education, keeping class sizes manageable and recruiting and retaining staff.
While there are no policy proposals for taxing the wealthy on the table in Illinois, the union argues that the state could pursue something like Massachusetts’ millionaire’s tax to help fund schools. The law requires an additional 4% levy paid by anyone earning more than $1 million annually. Massachusetts accrued almost $3 billion from the tax this past fiscal year.
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