Full Breakdown
Teachers' Unions Spend Over $1 Billion on Left-Wing Political Causes, Watchdog Report Finds
4/29/2026, 1:25:01 AM
Report Reveals Over $1 Billion in Political Spending by Teachers' Unions
Defending Education, a watchdog group, released reports indicating that teachers’ unions in the United States have directed over $1 billion toward left-wing political causes since 2015. The national unions alone contributed roughly $669 million, with additional spending from state and local affiliates.
Shift from Labor Advocacy to Political Machine
Historically, teachers’ unions advocated for higher wages, better working conditions, and health benefits. The report says that focus has shifted; the unions now operate as a “political machine” prioritizing a left-wing social-justice agenda over traditional labor goals.
Key Organizations and Researchers
Defending Education compiled the analysis, led by research director Rhyen Staley. The data cover the two largest teachers’ unions—the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT)—and their state-level affiliates.
Breakdown of Reported Expenditures
Spending tops $1 billion, with $669 million from national unions. State-level channels include the $60 million State Engagement Fund and $40 million For Our Future Action Fund. $85 million went to Democratic Party entities, and funds supported groups such as Color of Change + PAC, Indivisible, the National Center for Transgender Equality, Planned Parenthood, the Sixteen Thirty Fund, the New Venture Fund, and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
Implications for Elections and Education Policy
The disclosed spending reaches state and local campaigns, ballot initiatives opposing school-choice measures, and climate-change advocacy. By channeling funds to Democratic-aligned PACs and progressive organizations, the unions may shape electoral outcomes and policy debates affecting public education.
Official Statements from Defending Education and Union Non-Responses
Defending Education’s research director Rhyen Staley called the unions a “political machine” focused on political power and a left-wing social-justice agenda. President Nicole Neily urged greater transparency, saying policymakers need clear data to decide the unions’ future role. The NEA and AFT were contacted but had not responded by publication.
Criticism of Union Political Influence
Critics say the unions’ political spending leaves parents, families, and communities with little ability to counter union-funded campaigns. The report suggests the unions have moved beyond traditional labor advocacy, using financial power to advance a broader progressive agenda.
Data Gaps and Uncertainties
The analysis uses federal filings and campaign-finance records, which omit contributions to individual candidates. The NEA and AFT’s lack of response leaves a gap in verifying the unions’ own accounting of political spending.
Verbatim Quotes
"They are a political machine." — Rhyen Staley, Research Director, Defending Education
"Show me your budget and I will show you what you value; and what the teachers unions value is political power and advancing a left wing, social justice agenda." — Rhyen Staley, Research Director, Defending Education
"Given the outsized role that unions have played in the education system over the past fifty years, greater transparency on union spending is absolutely critical so that policymakers and teachers themselves can make informed decisions about the role that these entities should — or should not — play in the future." — Nicole Neily, President, Defending Education
"Educators across America are being used to prop up destructive causes." — Nicole Neily, President, Defending Education
