Progressive Chicago Teachers Union boss owes thousands in unpaid utility bills despite eye-popping salary

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The progressive president of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) owes thousands in unpaid utility bills despite making an eye-popping salary, the Illinois Policy Institute (IPI) has found.

According to the non-profit group, Stacy Davis Gates owes the city of Chicago $5,579 in unpaid water, sewer and trash bills as of Nov. 7, 2023, despite bringing home "at least" $289,000 a year.

Documents uncovered by the group show Davis Gates started a payment plan for the amount in July 2023, but quickly defaulted. It's unclear where she currently stands on the payments.

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Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Stacy Davis Gates speaks before a march to demand that police officers be removed from schools in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. June 24, 2020. (REUTERS/Max Herman)

"This latest revelation adds to the mounting evidence of her hypocrisy. She spurns responsibility and accountability both in her role as CTU president and in her daily life, while pushing for 'wealthy' taxpayers to pay their ‘fair share,’" the IPI report said.

The report added that Davis Gates' bills were just a small part of the whopping $6.4 billion owed in unpaid fees, fines and other debts still owed to the city since the year 1990.

Fox News Digital has reached out to Davis Gates for comment.

Davis Gates' unpaid bills are just the latest instance of what some have criticized as "hypocrisy" from the progressive union leader. 

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CTU president Stacy Davis Gates, middle right, and AFT President Randi Weingarten, middle left, join faculty members at a rally on the University of Illinois Chicago campus on Tuesday, Jan. 17, 2023. (E. Jason Wambsgans/Chicago Tribune/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Last month she was billed for back taxes due to an "unlawful deduction" she took on a home in Indiana.

According to local news outlet WGN, the South Bend native filed paperwork claiming the Indiana home as her primary residence in 2007 while she was a Chicago Public Schools teacher. She also applied for a homestead tax exemption for the home, and it was granted and has been active since then.

"Davis Gates would pay four times more in Indiana property taxes if she didn’t take the homestead deduction," the IPI, which also investigated the matter, reported at the time.

In September, Davis Gates defended sending her son to a private school despite being an outspoken critic of them.

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Then-Chicago Teachers Union Vice President Stacy Davis Gates speaks ahead of a car caravan where teachers and supporters gathered to demand a safe and equitable return to in-person learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in Chicago on December 12, 2020. (Max Herman/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

She was pressed during an appearance on CNN about her decision to do so, with one host noting that she had likened them to "segregation academies" in the South under Jim Crow.

"I didn't speak out against private schools. I spoke out against school choice. School choice and private schools are two different entities," Davis Gates replied.

Prior to facing criticism for sending her son to the private school, Davis Gates claimed that having her children in public schools helped to "legitimize" her position within the teachers union and that she could not advocate on behalf of public schools if that were not the case, according to NBC Chicago.

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Additionally, in a Chicago Magazine article last year, Davis Gates said, "I can’t advocate on behalf of public education without it taking root in my own household."

Fox News' Joshua Q. Nelson and Kyle Morris contributed to this report.