Millions of dollars from one of America’s largest teachers unions are flowing to far-left organizations and political causes, raising eyebrows about priorities in education.
The National Education Association (NEA), representing over 3 million members, allocated significant funds in its 2024 fiscal year to social justice groups, ballot initiatives, and progressive causes, according to a November Form L-2 disclosure obtained by the North American Values Institute (NAVI). The filings detail expenditures, including $300,000 to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, a liberal funding network, and tens of thousands to the Tides Foundation, linked to various activist movements. Fox News Digital reported that the NEA did not respond to requests for comment on these allocations.
According to Fox News, critics argue that this spending reflects a troubling shift away from the core mission of supporting teachers and students toward political advocacy. The concern is that union dues are being diverted to causesthat many members may not support. Let’s unpack where these funds are going and why it matters.
Among the largest single expenditures, the NEA sent over $3.5 million to Education International, a global teachers federation where NEA President Becky Pringle serves as vice president. That’s a hefty sum for an international group when domestic classroom needs often go underfunded.
Closer to home, the union poured hundreds of thousands into state-level ballot initiatives reshaping education and election policies. This includes $500,000 to end standardized testing in Massachusetts and another $500,000 for an anti-gerrymandering amendment in Ohio. Nearly half a million also went to a progressive consulting firm focused on canvassing and ballot campaigns.
Beyond politics, the NEA spent over $166,000 on Imagine Us LLC, a firm specializing in racial equity training, and $350,000 to the Schott Foundation, which funds racial and education justice movements. Additional funds supported groups pushing social justice curricula in K-12 schools, focusing on race, gender identity, and activism. Are these the priorities teachers signed up for when joining the union?
Mika Hackner, NAVI Director of Research, didn’t mince words on this trend. “This is the upshot of social justice unionism,” Hackner said. “Instead of focusing on members' working conditions, unions spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on pet political projects completely divorced from the needs and wants of most teachers but perfectly in line with the political agenda the union has been co-opted to serve.”
Hackner’s critique cuts to the heart of the issue: union leadership seems more invested in ideological battles than in securing better pay or resources for educators. If teachers’ dues are funding causes unrelated to their daily struggles, trust in the union erodes fast.
Erika Sanzi, senior director of communications for Defending Education, has also raised alarms about the NEA’s direction. “Their federal charter was granted because they promised to ‘elevate the character and advance the interests of the profession of teaching; and to promote the cause of education in the United States,’” Sanzi noted. “Seeing as their leadership — and by extension, the organization itself — has morphed into a far-left insane asylum that is actively destroying the cause of education, that charter is no longer defensible.”
Sanzi’s sharp words point to a broader pattern of ideological overreach. Past reports from Fox News Digital highlighted NEA documents guiding members on gender transitions at work and framing conservative critics as adversaries. This isn’t just about money—it’s about shaping minds in ways that sidestep parental input.
The union’s focus on progressive curricula, including materials centered on activism, raises questions about what’s being prioritized in schools. When funds go to these initiatives instead of, say, better classroom supplies or teacher training, it’s hard to argue that this serves students’ best interests.
State-level spending in places like Arizona and Wisconsin on education policy changes further shows the NEA playing political chess while teachers grapple with real-world challenges. Half a million here, half a million there—it adds up to a strategy that looks more like a campaign headquarters than a union hall.
For years, the NEA has faced scrutiny for leaning into political advocacy over student and teacher welfare. This latest filing only fuels the fire, showing millions funneled to causes far afield from the classroom. It’s a pattern that’s tough to justify when educators are stretched thin. The silence from the NEA on these allocations speaks volumes. If the union believes this spending aligns with its mission, why not defend it publicly? Teachers deserve transparency about where their hard-earned dues are going.
Ultimately, the NEA’s direction suggests a disconnect between leadership and the everyday needs of its members. While social justice causes and ballot measures may have their place, they shouldn’t come at the expense of the very people the union exists to represent. It’s time to refocus on education, not ideology.