CTU and SEIU back different candidates for school board president, widening rift between staff unions
<p>In yet another public break with the politically powerful Chicago Teachers Union, the second-biggest union representing Chicago public school workers announced Thursday that it is endorsing Jessica Biggs in the race for the first elected school board president.</p><p>By declining to back the CTU’s pick and getting behind a candidate the teachers union slammed on social media hours earlier, the Service Employees International Union continues to drift apart from a union that was once its close ally.</p><p>Now, as parents head to the polls in November, they might be torn over whether to support the candidate recommended by their child’s teacher wearing the red CTU T-shirt, or the one supported by their special education classroom aide and bus monitor wearing SEIU purple.</p><p>Both unions have considerable financial resources, a state and local presence and tens of thousands of workers who can knock on doors. SEIU represents about 16,500 CPS employees and more than 160,000 workers across the state.
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<p>In yet another public break with the politically powerful Chicago Teachers Union, the second-biggest union representing Chicago public school workers announced Thursday that it is endorsing Jessica Biggs in the race for the first elected school board president.</p><p>By declining to back the CTU’s pick and getting behind a candidate the teachers union slammed on social media hours earlier, the Service Employees International Union continues to drift apart from a union that was once its close ally.</p><p>Now, as parents head to the polls in November, they might be torn over whether to support the candidate recommended by their child’s teacher wearing the red CTU T-shirt, or the one supported by their special education classroom aide and bus monitor wearing SEIU purple.</p><p>Both unions have considerable financial resources, a state and local presence and tens of thousands of workers who can knock on doors. SEIU represents about 16,500 CPS employees and more than 160,000 workers across the state. CTU has 30,000 CPS members and its president, Stacy Davis Gates, also leads the Illinois Federation of Teachers with more than 100,000 members.</p><p>In both of these unions, members can choose to deduct money from their paychecks to go to political committees, in addition to their dues to support union activities.</p><p><a class="Link" href="https://www.wbez.org/education/2026/07/13/ctu-endorses-15-school-board-candidates-throwing-weight-behind-incumbents-mayoral-picks" >The CTU has endorsed</a> their former political director, Hilario Dominguez, in the race for school board president. The other candidates are Jennifer Custer, a current school board member and former educator; Victor Henderson, an attorney and board member of the charter operator Urban Prep; and Sendhil Revuluri, a former math teacher appointed to serve on the school board by former Mayor Lori Lightfoot.</p><p>In a press release, SEIU officials praised Biggs, a current school board member and former CPS principal who is now working for the nonprofit Southwest Organizing Project.
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- What's the story?
- <p>In yet another public break with the politically powerful Chicago Teachers Union, the second-biggest union representing Chicago public school workers announced Thursday that it is endorsing Jessica Biggs in the race for the first elected school board president.</p><p>By declining to back the CTU’s pick and getting behind a candidate the teachers union slammed on social media hours earlier, the Service Employees International Union continues to drift apart from a union that was once its close ally.</p><p>Now, as parents head to the polls in November, they might be torn over whether to support the candidate recommended by their child’s teacher wearing the red CTU T-shirt, or the one supported by their special education classroom aide and bus monitor wearing SEIU purple.</p><p>Both unions have considerable financial resources, a state and local presence and tens of thousands of workers who can knock on doors. SEIU represents about 16,500 CPS employees and more than 160,000 workers across the state.
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- 1 outlet, average source rating 6.0/10.
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- 12m ago.
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CTU and SEIU back different candidates for school board president, widening rift between staff unions
Sources1TypeCoverageChicago Sun-Times