When the Illinois House hearings on education reform convene this week at the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy in Aurora, IEA will be seated at the wrong table. Representatives of IEA, along with representatives of the Illinois Federation of Teachers (IFT) and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), will be presenting to the committee from a [...]

Just as the sun rises in the east, you can be sure that another Chicago Tribune editorial is on the way that will claim “teacher unions” are keeping public education from moving forward.  The next teacher-bashing Trib editorial will differ from its predecessors only in that it will incorporate quotes from one of the nation’s most [...]

The action at the Illinois Statehouse this week suggests that the November 2 election has altered the way Gov. Quinn is regarded by the members of the General Assembly. Item #1 The governor made passing the civil unions law a priority for the veto session.  He lobbied lawmakers in his office and, significantly, appeared in [...]

In sports, it’s possible to have the best, most experienced, perfect (on paper) team and lose.  As Cubs fans know, this is a common occurrence. But winning against a well-prepared, well-funded opponent who seems to get all the breaks, is fairly rare. IEA members could be forgiven if, a month or so ago, they thought [...]

Sometimes it’s important to deliberately file in your memory bank a moment or event to be summoned up at a later date and used to shape future thinking and actions. This election is one of those times. The 2010 race for governor of Illinois is one for the memory banks because it contains important lessons [...]

Virginia Hinchliff in 2009 (Galesburg Register-Mail) Virginia Hinchliff just turned 100, which almost certainly makes her the oldest living ex IEA local president. According to the Galesburg Register-Mail, Hinchliff became a teacher in 1932 and had a stellar career, which included serving as the first president of Alpha Rho Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society, [...]