The evidence is clear. Teachers who have dutifully paid their dues, believing the funds would support improved salaries, better benefits, or favorable contracts, may need to reassess. A recent report by Defending Education has uncovered what they describe as one of the most audacious political funding operations in U.S. history—and your contributions are part of it.
Since August 2015, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) have directed a staggering $669,324,912.33 from member dues and PAC funds to left-leaning political groups, progressive nonprofits, and Democratic campaigns. When factoring in state and local branches, this figure soars past $1 billion.
Rhyen Staley from Defending Education put it bluntly:
The numbers speak volumes. The State Engagement Fund, a tool for the Democratic Party, received $60,525,000. Meanwhile, the For Our Future Action Fund collected $44,732,078, the Senate Majority PAC obtained $32,655,000, and the House Majority PAC was given $25,842,790. Furthermore, the Strategic Victory Fund, established in 2020 to oppose Donald Trump, acquired $19,300,000.
Adding to this, over $85 million was funneled directly into Democratic Party entities across all government levels, excluding individual candidate donations. The Biden Victory Fund received $923,500, the Hillary Victory Fund garnered $444,250, and the Bill, Hillary, and Chelsea Clinton Foundation secured $725,000, with an additional $400,000 going to the Clinton Global Initiative.
In essence, these transactions represent the transformation of teacher paychecks into a substantial fund for the Democratic Party.
This is the wholesale conversion of teacher paychecks into a Democrat Party slush fund.
The ideological line items are worse. Media Matters for America received $700,000. The Sixteen Thirty Fund, a dark money vehicle in the Arabella Advisors network, received $4,433,000. Color of Change and its PAC got $3,310,000. Planned Parenthood Votes received $350,000.
Teachers’ Unions Now Blowing $2M on Protest Training While Kids Can’t Read
The NEA paid the Trevor Project $100,000, an organization whose chatroom was described as a “Pandora’s box” of disturbing content that encouraged minors to hide gender transitions from their parents. The Trump administration defunded the group last year by cutting a $26 million federal contract. The unions cut a check directly to race theorist Ibram X. Kendi for $7,418. They paid Gender Inclusivity LLC $29,250. They funneled $1,755,000 to the Midwest Academy, a group currently training activists for the May Day 2026 mobilization. This is not a union protecting teachers. It is a political apparatus funding the ideological transformation of American life.
Perhaps most cynically, the unions spent massively to kill school choice. Support Our Schools Nebraska, which repealed a school choice law, received $4,298,076 from the NEA. Protect Our Schools Kentucky received $7,215,000 to fight voucher legislation. Public Schools Strong received $4,137,500 to campaign against school choice in Colorado. Save Our Public Schools got $5,400,000.
The partisan fingerprints at the local level are just as damning. The Ohio Education Association gave $2.9 million to the Ohio Democrat Party and $23,249 to the Ohio House Republican Alliance, a ratio of 125 to 1. The Chicago Teachers’ Union funded the Chicago Aldermanic Black Caucus, the Chicago Alliance Against Racial and Political Oppression, and the Chicago City Council Latino Caucus. Its expense records show zero dollars to the Illinois Republican Party. Not one cent.
Nicole Neily, Defending Education’s president, was equally blunt:
“Educators are victims of a bait-and-switch: instead of their dues going to advocate for increased pay or improved working environments, they’re being spent advancing a hard-left political agenda, underwriting causes such as climate change, gender activism, and abortion.”
A billion dollars spent. Not on teachers. Not on students. Not on classrooms or salaries. On political power. The only question left is whether the teachers who were robbed will finally demand their money back.
Editor’s Note: President Trump is fighting to ensure America’s kids get the education they deserve.
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