Teachers who thought union dues were mainly going toward salaries, benefits and classroom conditions may want to look at this one.

A new pair of reports from Defending Education says the nation’s teachers unions and their state and local affiliates have pushed more than $1 billion into political causes, advocacy groups, PACs and campaigns over the last decade.

That is not a rounding error. That is a political machine.

The watchdog report focuses on the National Education Association, the American Federation of Teachers, and a network of affiliate groups that collect money from educators and then move massive sums into progressive political infrastructure.

Fox News:

Fox’s account of the new reports says Defending Education reviewed federal filings, campaign-finance records and union spending documents tied to the NEA, the AFT and state or local affiliates. The core finding is that national union spending alone has reached roughly $669 million since 2015, while the addition of state and local affiliate activity pushes the combined political-spending total above $1 billion.

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The money flow described in the report is not limited to conventional campaign checks. It includes political committees, progressive nonprofits, advocacy operations, ballot fights and groups aligned with Democratic organizing. Fox highlighted major recipients such as the State Engagement Fund, For Our Future Action Fund and affiliates, Senate Majority PAC and House Majority PAC. The report also says more than $85 million went directly to Democratic Party entities at the federal, state and local levels, before counting individual candidate giving. The watchdog’s argument is simple: a large share of union power is being used for ideological politics, not narrow workplace representation, and the spending pattern is broad enough to affect national and local races alike.

The numbers are stunning on their own, but the recipient list is what gives the story its teeth.

Defending Education says money moved into groups tied to climate activism, gender ideology, abortion politics, anti-school-choice campaigns and other left-wing priorities.

That is the disconnect critics keep pointing to. Teachers pay in. Political groups cash out.

Defending Education:

The national report says the NEA and AFT have moved $669,324,912.33 through member dues, fees, political funds and PAC disbursements since August 2015. The watchdog breaks that figure into AFT dues contributions, AFT COPE disbursements, NEA member dues contributions and NEA advocacy or children’s public education fund disbursements. Its summary says the money went toward left-wing political entities, far-left nonprofits, school board campaigns and opponents of school-choice legislation.

The key takeaways identify more than $85 million to Democratic Party entities and PACs, more than $60 million to the State Engagement Fund since 2016, more than $44 million to For Our Future Action Fund and related entities, and millions more to ballot initiatives. The watchdog also lists school-choice fights in Maine, Nebraska, Kentucky and Colorado, plus donations to groups in the Arabella-linked network. Defending Education says it tried to avoid double-counting dollars and plans to update the figures over time, but the report already presents a picture of union infrastructure operating as a national political funding pipeline.

The second report brings the issue closer to home by tracking state and local affiliates.

That matters because many teachers do not think of their local union check as part of a national political operation. The report says those affiliates are part of the story, too.

Defending Education:

The state and local report says selected affiliates and their PACs spent $336,723,003.84, with $135,803,422.13 coming from state and local teachers unions and $200,919,581.71 coming from union PAC activity. The report names affiliates such as the California Federation of Teachers, Chicago Teachers Union, Education Minnesota, Florida Education Association, Michigan Education Association, Ohio Education Association, United Federation of Teachers and United Teachers Los Angeles.

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Defending Education also points to large PAC figures, including more than $106 million from California Teachers Association PACs and more than $20 million from New York State United Teachers VOTE-COPE. The report lists examples ranging from Planned Parenthood contributions to anti-school-choice ballot campaigns and political spending in gubernatorial races. Its broader claim is that the political spending is not incidental. The watchdog says state and local union entities have become organized funding channels for causes and candidates that many parents and rank-and-file educators may never have knowingly chosen to support.

Teacher Freedom Alliance CEO Ryan Walters has been hammering this exact point for months: unions are no longer just bargaining organizations, they are political engines.

The unions will no doubt argue that political advocacy is part of protecting public education.

But the report raises a harder question: how many classroom teachers signed up to bankroll national left-wing politics?

When the totals cross $1 billion, that question is not going away.

This is a Guest Post from our friends over at WLTReport. View the original article here.
 

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