Jim Vail

A very engaging and alarming film entitled Pension Fight Club documents how pension money has been siphoned from retired workers and transferred into secret Wall Street bank accounts. The director Doug Orchard does a great job telling the story of how public pension funds across the United States have been taken over by Wall Street alternative investments such as private equity through secretive accounts. Second City Teachers is a reader-supported publication.

Photo by Sasun Bughdaryan on Unsplash Do you follow your investment consultant’s advice or do you question the experts you hired? Based on the Chicago Teachers’ Pension Fund (CTPF) recent decision to dump Callan as its investment consultant, you question them because the Fund is only 48 percent funded. But CTPF Trustees were divided on this question when they were asked to comment after a fiduciary presentation by the CTPF Counsel Carolyn Clifford at the June 11, 2026 Investment Committee meeting.

Would the real Substance News please stand up! When I reported about my connections to Substance News and how I was inspired to continue the legacy of setting up a newspaper for teachers and activists who want to defend public education, I was told Substance is a racist right wing news site. Second City Teachers is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.