On Aug. 17, the Chicago Teachers Union filed a lawsuit naming me and two co-defendants, alleging defamation.1
You can read it here.
Below are three thoughts in response, and two things you can do about it.
This lawsuit is an obvious attempt to silence valid criticism and dissent. I stand behind my reporting 100%. In the footnotes, you can find each piece published in The Last Ward that is mentioned in the lawsuit.2
My team and I will continue reporting on the inner-workings and consequences of the union’s political machine. Chicagoans, including rank-and-file teachers frustrated by CTU’s leadership, deserve nothing less.3
My sincere thanks to every journalist, friend, colleague, reader — and especially, every Chicago teacher — who has reached out personally with words of support.
Here are two actions you can take to support me and our team.
First, you can make a tax-deductible donation to the Illinois Policy Institute, which will help cover costs associated with this lawsuit and the Chicago Policy Center’s work to make Chicago home to the most effective, accountable, and trustworthy big-city government in the nation.
Thanks to the generous support of individual donors, every dollar raised up to $250,000 will be matched 1:1, doubling your impact.
And second, if you live in Chicago, please take a moment to request your mail ballot for the November school board election here.
This is the first time in city history that residents will decide on a fully elected school board. And the last time until 2042 that all 21 seats — every district seat plus the citywide presidency — are on the same ballot.
Onward. And thank you.
In the news
Wall Street Journal Editorial Board: The Chicago Teachers Union Sues Its Critics
The Chicago Teachers Union is deeply unpopular, but rather than engage in soul-searching, it has taken a page from Donald Trump and filed a defamation lawsuit.
Chicago Tribune Editorial Board: The growing political isolation of the Chicago Teachers Union
Speaking of bullying, CTU on Monday filed a defamation lawsuit against the Illinois Policy Institute, a frequent critic of Davis Gates and the union. Named in the complaint was IPI Vice President Austin Berg, who has broken much reporting ground on CTU’s fraught relations with some of its own members and has been an articulate voice on television, podcasts and radio on the politics of public education in Chicago. The final defendant is the Liberty Justice Center, a nonprofit legal outfit with a libertarian point of view.
Mincing Rascals 8.19.26: CTU suing IPI (Apple, Spotify, YouTube)
The Picayune Sentinel: The Chicago Teachers Union sues think tank critics
WGN Radio: Eric Zorn: CTU lawsuit against Illinois Policy Institute is ill-advised
Mincing Rascals 9.2.26: Flock cameras, Chicago crime, Lake Ontario, Mayor Johnson’s future (Apple, Spotify) My “green light” recommendation: The Siskel Film Center’s retrospective on Andrei Tarkovsky, running through Sept. 30.
My co-defendants are the Illinois Policy Institute and the Liberty Justice Center.
Indeed, new polling released last week shows just 1 in 3 CTU members support Brandon Johnson for re-election.
Typical CTU and Stacy Davis Gates tactics- I'm surprised the R card hasn't been played- maybe it has. I sure hope the Union at large wakes up and gets back to teaching kids instead of radical politics.
In 2019, while I was serving as temporary chair of the City Council’s Zoning Committee, CTU organized a protest outside my home. Protesters—including students—entered through our locked gate and placed stolen school desks on my front lawn. Had I involved students in such conduct when I was a public school teacher, I likely would have been fired and arrested for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Yet in Chicago, the incident drew barely a word of criticism. Consider being sued by CTU a badge of honor.