Pension Election

Candidates Charge Dirty Tactics in Pension Election

By Jim Vail

Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) members are voting to elect two teacher trustees to the Chicago Teacher's Union Pension Fund (CTPF) amidst accusations of dirty campaigning and charges of racism at the fund.

Tina Padilla, a current trustee, is running with Catherine Cunningham-Yee on the CORE ticket against Mary Esposito-Usterbowski and Phillip Weiss with Members First. 

Teachers can vote Nov. 2 - 6 at https://vote.yeselections.com/ctpf-t/

Members First complained that CTU employees were calling teachers to campaign for the CORE pension trustees and were identifying themselves as delegates or CTU members, but not their caucus affiliation. They say it gives the impression that the union has endorsed these candidates which it has not.

Core countered that the accusations were false to give the impression that they are intentionally spreading disinformation to make it appear the CTU is trying to unfairly tilt the election. They pointed out that Sherri Parker who was phone banking to get out the vote for Core correctly identified herself as a CTU member, delegate and PSRP leader and wasn't trying to deceive anyone.

The election for two teacher trustee positions comes at a critical time when CTPF President Jeffery Blackwell wrote a letter that he read at a recent pension fund board meeting where he accused employees and trustees of racism and pressure from the CTU to make political hires at the fund.

It's gotten so bad that Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a bitter foe of the CTU, has commented to the mainstream media that she is concerned about the pension fund.

Teachers and retirees take note, if the mayor who represents business interests is concerned, that is not a good thing. Businesses have been pressuring state politicians like Madigan to cut public worker pensions just like they did in the corporate sector.

The Members First candidates noted in a facebook election campaign video that the fund has lost over 2 percent of its value in the last three months. However, this is only partly true according to one trustee. The fund has lost 2.5 percent over the last year.

Why is the fund down and why all the chaos?

There are no simple answers here.

Second City Teachers will take an in-depth look in our next article at these very questions in order to better understand things. It is especially critical to hold highly-paid fund managers and trustees accountable when it comes to managing the retirement of teachers.

Tina Padilla is running for reelection to the CTPF. She has served since 2011 and has a strong finance background. She worked as a math teacher for over 20 years at Lane Tech High School until she clashed with a corrupt principal who fired her. She is considered one of the most active trustees who sparred with the fund's former director who some believe helped orchestrate the recent turmoil.

Cathy Cunningham-Yee is running on the Core ticket with Tina Padilla for teacher pension trustee. She is a veteran teacher and activist in Core. She currently teaches special ed at Rickover Naval Academy High School where Phil Weiss also works.

Philip Weiss is running on the Members First ticket for teacher trustee. He has an extensive finance and investment background. He has owned and traded various types of securities and commodities, including stocks, bonds, oil and precious metals since he was 12 years old. He said he also invests in start-up companies and he founded 2 companies that owned and rented two dozen apartment units to lower income families.

Mary Esposito-Usterbowski is running with Members First for teacher pension trustee. She currently works as a school psychologist and has been a teacher member of the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund (CTPF) since 1998.