Obviously Obvious: Study Proves What I've Been Saying About Teachers' Unions for Years

Way back when I first decided to write about politics as a hobby — I'd already been an activist for years at that point — my main focuses were media bias and school choice. In fact, the first political conference I ever attended as a blogger was a school choice conference. Those two issues remain the ones I am most passionate about now as a professional political writer.

School choice in America is something that I will champion forever. Public education uses schools as leftist indoctrination mills, and classrooms have become the Democrats' preferred culture war battlegrounds. While Republicans are appealing to people of legal voting age, the Democrats are minting new voters in pre-schools all over the land.

The financial engine behind all of this perverted use of taxpayer money is fueled by the teachers' unions. This is a point that I have been hammering home for years. Earlier this week, my Twitchy colleague Gordon K highlighted a recent article in The Free Press that backs this up. Here's the intro to that article:

Are our country’s teachers’ unions actually just political fundraising machines?
A new report out today accuses both the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and the National Education Association (NEA) of spending tens of millions of dollars on electing Democratic political candidates, and prioritizing politicking over the needs and interests of their union members.
The report, conducted by the Network Contagion Research Institute (NCRI), Gevura Fund, and Rutgers University, among others, found that of the NEA’s $450 million annual disbursement budget from fiscal year 2025, less than $46 million, or 10 percent, was spent on activities directly representing the union’s constituents.

A lot of astute readers here are no doubt aware that the unions have been buying Democrats for decades. Dem politicians aren't shills for the unions because they actually care about children, they're simply obeying the orders of their financial overlords. Unfortunately, a lot of Americans still fall for the Democrats' for the children spiel, and truly believe that public education is all about teaching the little ones reading, writing, and arithmetic (remember that word?).

When I lived in Los Angeles and was still in my peak activist phase, I would be invited to dinner/roundtable discussion events that the Manhattan Institute would occasionally host. An expert would give a quick presentation during dinner, then we would all pick his or her brain for the rest of the evening. Fifteen or so years later, I remember the food and the wine always being exquisite, but not many of the topics. The one that sticks with me was about the overwhelming financial sway that the California Teachers Association holds over politics in the nation's most populous state. The CTA is the most powerful political lobby in California.

Spoiler alert: the union doesn't work to get Republicans elected.

When we think of union involvement in leftist politics, it is usually the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) that comes to mind first. That's because the SEIU people tend to be the most visible. They're actively involved in organizing most lefty protests and responsible for doling out the freebies that they have to offer to get people to them. While the teachers' unions can be vocal — AFT head Randi Weingarten hasn't shut her gaping maw since 2008 — their leaders tend to hang in the background, writing checks and issuing marching orders to the Democratic National Committee.

Something that doesn't get talked about often enough is the sheer scale of this grift. The National Education Association isn't just big, it is the largest labor union in the United States. The NEA has a million more members than second place SEIU. That's a lot of forced political contributions disguised as member dues. AFT has almost two million members to throw on top of the NEA's over three million.

Unless there is a miracle and public sector unions are one day outlawed in this country, the best way to weaken the teachers' unions is through more school choice. That's why they're so bitterly opposed to it. Anything that chokes off the lobbying income cannot be tolerated, even if it is what's best for the children.

Obviously, this is why the Democrats are against school choice too. Well, that and the fact that they don't think that parents should have any say in their children's lives. Teachers' unions are integral to their "fundamental transformation" plans for the United States. The goal of the unions and Dem elites isn't to educate American students; it's to make them too ignorant to make informed political choices. That's what all of those fringe history lessons are about.

I will conclude with a point that I make every time I write about school choice: it's a winning issue for the Republicans. It would be wonderful if the Republicans could figure that out one day.

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Editor's Note: President Trump is fighting to ensure America's kids get the education they deserve.

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