Teachers
Used to be an article of faith that teachers were educators, and in most cases had your kids’ interests at heart. Even now, I think many teachers set out to be the best teachers they can.
(Full admission: I have three, almost four teachers in the family: one a professional who is now the dean at her school, one home-schooling her kids as well as teaching others, one who teaches as part of her doctoral program, and one who was an education major until she actually had to go in the classroom and decided that really wasn’t for her. Hey, 75% isn’t bad. Yeah, we got teachers.)
But teachers as political people? That seems to be a more recent phenomenon. Geez, no one ever mentioned politics when I was young, much less did things like hang gay pride flags or whatnot. That has changed, and changed in a big way.
A new pair of reports is shedding fresh light on how teachers unions across the country have quietly poured more than $1 billion into political causes over the past decade, with a top education watchdog warning the spending reflects a growing focus on activism rather than classroom priorities.
Billion, with a B. Remember what Mr. Stevenson (Adlai, not Robert Louis) had to say about them.
According to research from Defending Education, national teachers unions alone have directed roughly $669 million toward left-wing political groups, advocacy organizations and campaigns since 2015. When state and local affiliates are included, that figure balloons to more than $1 billion in total political spending.
The reports track spending from the two largest unions, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), as well as their state-level affiliates, using federal filings and campaign finance records.
Unions also directed tens of millions toward major Democratic-aligned political committees, including the Senate Majority PAC and House Majority PAC.
Parents, families, and communities have little to no counter to the influence that teachers union dollars have on state and local campaigns. Gone are the days of unions just advocating for higher wages, better working conditions, and good health insurance; they are a political machine focused on fomenting a ‘political revolution.’”
Think those unionized teachers’ money is going to lobby for improvements in teacher pay? Working conditions? Money for miscellaneous school supplies? How many #2 Ticonderogas could a billion buy?
It’s time to dispense with the myth that unions care whatsoever about teachers’ best interests. 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 (as well as supporting progressive politicians at all levels),” Neily said. (Defending Education President Nicole Neily – ed.)
“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.”
Some of the progressive groups in the report who took money from the nation’s most powerful teachers unions include: Color of Change + PAC, Indivisible, National Center for Transgender Equality, Planned Parenthood, Sixteen Thirty Fund, New Venture Fund and the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.
Keep an eye on the May Day protests. Teachers’ money is funding some of that.
Category: Politics
Ex number 2 had six immediate family members that were teachers. One is now a superintendent of a small school district. They were all liberals of course, although one of the males was a hard moderate.
We currently have three governors who were teachers. One is liberal, one is conservative and one is an agent of China. Teachers are overwhelmingly (77%) female in the US so when a liberal teacher becomes a politician it’s typically a male and when a conservative becomes a politician it’s typically a female.
Teaching is a high skill, low paying job. It has some great intangible benefits in that teachers can often align their schedules with raising a family. They get holidays, summers, and long breaks during the school year. They care less about pay and most seem interested in education and having a good quality of life. Working conditions aren’t going to change any. If the union doesn’t really represent them they don’t seem to care much.
After having to retire medically from my civilian career I took advantage of the state’s programs for retraining in another field. I tested for aptitude and one of the career fields the testing indicated was education. Since I was already teaching in the Army Reserves (USAR school and C&GSC) It felt like a good fit. I went back to school and learned that getting the credits for the state teaching certificate left me 2 credits short of a MA in ED, so went for that too. I passed my student teaching but the school I did it in had a great Principal and no one wanted to leave the school so no openings. Interviewing with other schools brought me in contact with other Principals, they were not happy with my background. While they all said they wanted more men in the classrooms (I was interested in Elementary) they all said they didn’t want me teaching the kids to “be good little soldiers”. I already had over 2 years of sub experience in the same schools and worked every day of the school year except the first and last. I was requested by name by the teachers to sub in their classes. It was the administration that shut the door in my face. I left education and worked as a director for a nonprofit for a couple years.