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The teacher union leadership is in a collective snit after it became clear that Donald Trump would be reelected as U.S. president. American Federation of Teachers boss Randi Weingarten stated in a press release on Nov. 9, “At this moment, the country is more divided than ever, and our democracy is in jeopardy. Last night, we saw fear and anger win.”
National Education Association boss Becky Pringle was somber, posting on Facebook, “We woke up today to a world that feels darker than it did yesterday. I hear the fear about the safety of our families and communities. I feel the profound anxiety for the future of our country. I see the worry, anger, and heartbreak. But despair is not the answer.”
Pringle’s post was widely contested in the comments section, however. Typifying the pushback, educator Laurie Speed posted, “I wish that you would not assume that all of your members are liberals. Many voted for Trump, and they are feeling optimistic. I wish NEA were bipartisan. The education of our children is important to both parties. As educators, we can set the example for our students to follow regarding how to collaborate with others whose opinions differ from ours.”
Speed nails it! Ignoring its rank and file, teacher union leadership is far left, and has been for years. When NEA president Reg Weaver spoke at the Democratic Convention in 2008, his opening words were, “I am here today on behalf of 3.2 million NEA members to tell you why we support Barack Obama for president of the United States.”
It sounded as if every member of the NEA was backing Obama. Then, in his last sentence, he left no doubt. “That, my friends, is why the 3.2 million members of the National Education Association are organized, energized, and mobilized to help elect Barack Obama as the next president of the United States of America.”
Yet, the same Reg Weaver stated a few years before that one-third of NEA membership is Republican, one-third Democrat, and one-third “other.”
On a similar note, Mike Antonucci explained in 2010 that NEA members lean no further to the left than any other large group of Americans. “The national union conducts periodic internal surveys to ascertain member attitudes on a host of issues. These surveys are never made public, and results are tightly controlled, even within the organization. The 2005 NEA survey, consistent with previous results, found that members are slightly more conservative (50%) than liberal (43%) in political philosophy.”
More recently, a 2017 EdWeek poll found that 43% of teachers described themselves as politically moderate, 29% as liberal, and 27% as conservative.
No matter. Current NEA president Becky Pringle gave a speech —or more accurately, a screech— to the flock at the yearly NEA convention this past July. Among other things, in a reference to conservatives, she bellowed, “Today, they sprout as vitriol toward our profession; increased marginalization of Black, brown, AAPI, and Indigenous communities; rising hatred toward our LGBTQ+ siblings. The seeds of hate manifest themselves as attacks against our freedom to teach; our students’ freedom to learn.”
She wasn’t done. “They’ve mushroomed into the poisonous spores of a stacked Supreme Court—one that continues to render decisions that attack, diminish, and disregard the needs and lived experiences of far too many Americans. And now, the same court gave corporations the power to attack the critical services Americans have relied on for generations and laid the foundation to give Donald Trump immunity for his crimes against Americans and America. Through it all, undeterred and unwavering, we stand as one collective, clear in our resolve: We won’t go back!”
Not surprisingly, in the 2024 election cycle, teachers’ unions contributed $44,935,088 to political candidates nationwide, with 98.43% going to Democrats and a paltry 0.89% to Republicans.
And it’s not just the national teachers’ unions that have a leftwing agenda.
Of the 80 State Assembly seats in California up for grabs, the California Teachers Association recommended 79 Democratic candidates, one no recommendation, and nary a Republican. For Congress, Democrats got 40 recommendations and Republicans zero.
Even local unions get into the act. The Illinois Policy Institute reports that just 17% of Chicago Teachers Union spending is dedicated to representing its members, with most of the dues money going to support candidates and causes that align with the union’s radical political agenda.
After the horrific terrorist attack by Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023, which was labeled the “deadliest for Jews since the Holocaust,” the United Teachers of Los Angeles was silent about the bloodbath. But at the same time, the union labeled Israel an “apartheid state” and “occupier.” UTLA doubled down, passing a resolution last month backing an arms embargo against Israel proposed by avowed socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Additionally, UTLA’s Executive Board permitted multiple re-introductions of a motion criticizing Israel while advocating for the protection of the Hamas attackers without concern for the victims of the October 7 massacre.
In the recent election, UTLA also endorsed Kahllid Al-Alim for a seat on the LAUSD school board. Al-Alim’s social media accounts, fraught with anti-Semitic balderdash, featuring blood-libel and conspiracy theories, and an outrageous accusation against Jews for “collaborating with and even financing such racial terrorists as the Ku Klux Klan.”
However, after an intense backlash, UTLA pulled support for Al-Alim but not until contributing more than $700,000 in membership dues to his campaign. Thankfully, the odious Al-Alim lost.
With all this happening, the question becomes, why would any teacher who is right of center, centrist, apolitical—or in Los Angeles, Jewish—willingly pay money to a teachers union? When teachers first sign up, most think that their dues are going to an organization that exists to protect them. But nothing could be further from the truth.
It’s worth noting that when teachers join a union, they are actually joining three. In addition to their local, they also fork over money to the national union and state affiliates. Currently, the NEA siphons $213 and in California, for example, the CTA takes $816 yearly. In Los Angeles, UTLA tacks on another $120 for a total of $1,149. In Chicago, teachers now pay the union more than $1,400 per year.
Liability insurance is one of the only decent benefits the teachers’ unions offer. However, teachers can instead join the Association of American Educators or Christian Educators Association International—professional organizations—and get better coverage at a much lower cost.
Additionally, The Freedom Foundation announced in July that it will launch the Teacher Freedom Network in January 2025 for teachers who want to leave their union. This organization, too, will offer options that unions typically offer, like liability insurance.
It’s a shame that more educators don’t recognize the downside of being in a union. If teachers stopped paying dues, they would be better off, the unions would be less powerful, and children and society would greatly benefit.
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Larry Sand, a retired 28-year classroom teacher, is the president of the non-profit California Teachers Empowerment Network – a non-partisan, non-political group dedicated to providing teachers and the general public with reliable and balanced information about professional affiliations and positions on educational issues. The views presented here are strictly his own.
I don’t think any of my Teachers in School belonged to some Union or t he NEA that I know of
Defiling the rank and ignorant
All trade union leaders are communist.
Unions long had to fight to prevent being taken over by communists and organized crime. Not all succeeded, Many were not started by such. The union cooption by the left presently is a reflection of what has happened in society as a whole.
Every trade union in the UK has been communist since the 70’s and I say that from personal experience.
It is a national tragedy that education today seems fixated more on progressive politics than on education.
There are exceptions, of course, such as Hillsdale College, an institution of higher learning committed instead to classical education.
Although politics can be found everywhere, why should politics drive education? Rather, why not allow education to drive education?
The current and prevailing educational model can be traced back to early Progressives (e.g. John Dewey) and to later influences from certain schools of thought, such as the Frankfurt School. As a result, we arguably have ended up with a top-down authoritative, Soviet-style GOSPLAN, cookie-cutter approach to education.
There seems to be little room for open critical thinking and competition of ideas.
Perhaps it is time to deconstruct the progressive educational paradigm.
Larry Sand is wrong. Most teachers are Leftists. This is why the Union Leadership is Leftist.
What evidence do you have for your claim?
And the NEA is as far left as you can get
Someone needs to read the communist party platform. One of the goals was to gain control of unions’. As long a the communists control the leadership the union will push for communist beliefs. The teacher’s unions are no different. I attended a meeting of the union at my school and they were pushing the communist line, to include corporate tax rates. I remarked that this country was paying the highest in the world. T he lady made note and said she would look it up. The guy with her was not happy and I never received another invite. Of course the abolition of the Department of Education is like holding up a Cross, holy water or garlic to a Vampire! Why do they think so many parents are home schooling their children these days? Let concerned people fund an advisory group to that can write each state with recommended courses, etc.
If the majority of these scumbags are Lefties, God help our children now and in the years to come !
The nea is the best reason to support charter schools…..and the aft is no better.
In the 1960’s and 1970’s the thrust among lefties seemed to be focused on garnering top spots. From there, all control would be assured — and for a good long while.