CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Progressive Teachers FCU, a $2 million credit union chartered in 1937 by the area’s African-American teachers, has agreed to merge into the larger Chattanooga Area Schools CU.
The director of Progressive Teachers, one of the few financial institutions that would give loans to black teachers in the 1960s at a reasonable rate, said the merger was a natural fit because many of its members also are members of the $125 million credit union.
Last month’s merger vote occurred around the time that Margaret Burton, 64, a former manager at Progressive Teachers who worked there from 1998 to 2006, pleaded guilty to misappropriating $91,000 from the credit union.
Membership in Progressive Teachers FCU began to decline during integration in the late 1960s, when black teachers were allowed to join Chattanooga Area Schools. Current membership is approximately 650.
