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Amid a trend of declining membership since the Supreme Court struck down mandatory union dues, the nation’s two largest teachers’ unions have poured tens of millions into left-wing causes, a new report finds from a conservative watchdog group.
The national nonprofit group, Defending Ed, released a report this week after combing through the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers’ contributions to left-wing and far-left groups. The nonprofit found that the two unions spent a combined $43.5 million since 2022 to help fund state and federal political action committees and other ideologically left-wing entities, such as D.C. think tanks.
“It is clear that the teachers unions’ priorities are advancing far-left politics and radical social justice issues, not the education of children,” Defending Ed researcher Rhyen Staley told Fox News Digital. “This is a slap in the face to families and teachers who want to focus on helping students improve their reading and math skills. It is time that Congress acts to stop this obscene redistribution of public monies to advance left-wing identity politics.”
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Presidents of the nation’s two largest teachers’ unions, Becky Pringle (left) of the National Education Association (NEA), and Randi Weingarten (right) of the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). (Leigh Vogel/Getty Images for March For Our Lives)
Left-wing philanthropic behemoths like the Tides Network, New Venture Fund, Sixteen-Thirty Fund, and Future Forward, the last of which was the main Super PAC supporting Kamla Harris’ 2024 presidential run after former President Joe Biden dropped out, all received a combined nearly $1.5 million from the unions, according to the report.
The unions also forked over significant amounts of cash for groups that focus on supporting left-wing candidates for public office, such as the Democratic Governors Association, Democrat’s House Majority and Senate Majority PACs.
Other groups they have donated to include major left-wing think tanks like the Center for American Progress and its 501(c)(4) arm, which received close to a million dollars since 2022 from the two unions.
Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers (left) and Becky Pringle, president of the National Education Association (right) speak during the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois, on Aug. 22, 2024. (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
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Aaron Withe, an expert on public-sector unions, pointed out that the National Education Association spends less than 10% of its budget on what he called “representational activities,” while, at the same time, the union spends 38% of its budget on contributions to left-leaning groups, lobbying and political gifts.
“You’d think in light of the decline in union membership in recent years, that they’d start providing value to members that outweighs the cost of membership,” Withe told Fox News Digital. “Instead, they are appeasing the radical base of union members by advocating for men in women’s sports, transitioning minors, antisemitism and other radical ideological stances.”
He added that this is just “the tip of the iceberg” too “when you consider that there are thousands of statewide and city and county teachers unions that are mostly funding the same causes.”
Education activists alongside elected officials attend a rally outside the U.S. Capitol ahead of Secretary of Education nominee Linda McMahon’s confirmation hearing on Feb. 12, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Paul Morigi/Getty Images for National Education Association)
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Neither the National Education Association, nor the American Federation of Teachers, responded to Fox News Digital’s repeated requests for comment.
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