Critics question unions after $1B in political spending

By Esther Wickham
The Center Square

Following a report by Defending Education revealing that the nation’s largest teachers unions spent more than $1 billion on political activities, education experts are questioning whether the unions’ heavy political spending has produced any meaningful improvement in student outcomes.

The report by the non-profit Defending Education found that the American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association together directed approximately $669 million toward federal political activity and another $336 million toward state and local political spending since 2015.

The totals include member dues, Political Action Committee contributions and Committee on Political Education funds, which are collected separately from standard union membership dues and fees.

In an interview with The Center Square, Lance Izumi, senior director of the Center for Education at the Pacific Research Institute, said the report’s findings continue to raise questions about the priorities of teachers’ unions and the impact of their political spending.

“Teacher unions are an ATM machine for the Democratic Party,” Izumi said.

Izumi argued that if union-backed political spending is intended to improve public education through increased funding, measurable gains should appear in student achievement and proficiency levels.

“If the unions say that we’re funding these candidates because we’re going to get more funding, and that’s going to somehow make the difference to the children, then we should be able to see that when it comes to student performance indicators,” Izumi added.

Izumi also referenced results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress, often called the Nation’s Report Card.

On the NAEP eighth-grade mathematics assessment, 27% of California eighth graders scored at or above proficiency in 2015. By 2024, that figure had fallen to 25%, according to NAEP.

On the eighth-grade reading assessment, 28% of California students scored at or above the proficient level in both 2015 and 2024, showing no improvement over the decade.

“Despite the fact that the union spent $106 million in political spending over that ten-year period by the CTA, that didn’t move the needle at all,” Izumi said. “So the system didn’t get any better for the children when it came to their achievement. It simply made the unions more powerful and made them kingmakers.”

Izumi also pointed specifically to spending by the California Teachers Association, which is a large and influential teachers’ union.

According to data from Public Union Facts, the California Teachers Association has spent more than $236 million on political activity. Federal contribution records cited in the report showed approximately 98.4% of political donations went to Democratic candidates and organizations, compared to 1.6% for Republicans.

The Defending Education report focused on state and local political spending, where the report highlights that unions increasingly fund advocacy organizations and issue campaigns beyond traditional labor concerns.

According to the report, at the state and local level alone, teachers’ unions spent more than $135.8 million to support opposition to school choice initiatives.

“Teachers unions are, in essence, running a quasi-monopoly,” Cliff Smith, government affairs director at North American Values Institute, told The Center Square. “Competition is the one thing monopolies can’t stand, since it reveals their deficiencies that they’d rather not answer for.”

The Center Square reached out to the Florida Education Association for comment but FEA Press Secretary Autumn Bell wrote in a state that no representative was available to discuss the issue.

The Center Square also reached out to the CTA, NEA and AFT unions but did not receive a response.