In the wake of the National Education Associations national meeting in Portland and American Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingartens highly-publicized departure from the Democratic National Committee, its been open season on teachers unions in conservative media.
Corey DeAngelis of the CATO Institute calls the NEA “a political machine, not an education organization” and the AFT “little more than an arm of the Democratic Party.” He complains that “since 1990, nearly all [NEA] political contributions – 98.24% in the 2024 election cycle – have gone to Democrats” and that the AFT, which spent $16.5 million in the 2024 election cycle, “funnels about 99% of its campaign contributions to Democrats every cycle.”
Free Press reporter Maya Sulkin laments that at the NEA gathering, among the initiatives approved is one calling the 2026 elections “a pivotal moment for our democracy” and deciding that the NEA will “explore programs” to help fund personnel for NEA-affiliated locals to help “run campaigns in alignment with this fight for democracy.”
It is true that teachers unions provide Democratic candidates with money as well as endorsements, “boots on the ground” electoral activism, and more. For teachers to get what they want in politics – no easy task – they need to build relationships with politicians, and financial support is a part of those relationships.
Whether we agree with the way these funds are used or not, conservative complaints represent a strange twist of logic. Wealthy people and big businesses contribute large sums to political campaigns – for example, in 2024 Elon Musk spent $290 million. Yet when the NEA and the AFT -organizations of working people – spend money, somehow its a problem.
Teachers unions cannot effectively represent educators if were not active in politics; as they say, “If youre not at the table, youre on the menu.”
Many political battles, particularly budgets, have a direct impact on our schools, on educators, and on the long-term viability of the teaching profession. Moreover, there are also many boutique political issues important to educators, such as tenure, academic freedom, due process for accused teachers, and more.
I cant say I trust Democrats on any of these issues. But theyre still superior to the overt hostility of many Republicans toward teachers and the unions that represent them. If Republicans want to know why teachers unions tilt heavily toward the Democratic Party, I might suggest they look in the mirror.
Conservative journalist Nick Givas, in a recent attack on Weingarten and NEA President Becky Pringle, sums up much of what conservatives throw at us when he writes that teachers unions “encourage their teachers to vote liberal and in return … theyre often given massive pay raises on the taxpayers dime, only work nine months per year, and achieve ‘tenure which makes them almost untouchable, all while pushing their personal propaganda in the classroom …”
Unfortunately, there have been no “massive pay raises.” Yet conservatives are denouncing teachers unions for fighting for raises to defend their members livelihoods against the ravages of the inflation (aka “Bidenflation”) which, ironically, conservatives have spent the past four years denouncing.
Yes, we work “nine months per year”, but those are 60+ hour work weeks. And if we do miss a day, we must make lesson plans and then review and grade the days work. For teachers, not going to work is a lot of work.
Moreover, an hour of our work is not like an hour at an average job, where if needed you can take a break or make or answer a phone call. By contrast, we need to keep a succession of classes filled with kids, who don’t particularly want to be controlled, under control, and who don’t particularly want to be on task, on task. All hour, every hour – alone.
Critics like Givas exaggerate the dimensions of teacher tenure. Ive often represented teachers in disciplinary hearings, and, sadly, teachers are anything but “untouchable.” In fact, one of the untold outrages in modern K-12 education is how common it is for teachers – particularly male teachers – to have their careers marred or even destroyed by false allegations.
For example, in one recent case a former colleague was yanked out of his job and kept at home for almost nine months until the Los Angeles Unified School District could be bothered to make even a cursory investigation. When they finally asked the alleged “victim” about the preposterous allegation made by a third party, the accusation was promptly discredited, and he was exonerated and cleared. It is teachers unions who fight to ensure that educators in these situations receive due process, and it is not easy.
Regarding alleged “propaganda,” somehow when students are taught what conservatives think they should be taught, its “education,” but when we teach what we think best, its “indoctrination.”
Republicans blame teachers and teachers unions for the shortcomings of our schools and their standardized test scores, graduation rates, and more. Yet modern public school teachers are generally teaching a heavily low-income, minority, and immigrant student body whose conditions in life necessarily have a substantial negative effect on their overall academic performance.
Republicans utter nary a word about all that teachers are up against – is it surprising they dont make a lot of friends within our ranks?
Glenn Sacks teaches social studies and represents United Teachers Los Angeles at James Monroe High School in the Los Angeles Unified School District. His columns on education have been published in dozens of America’s largest publications.
