{"id":1510921,"date":"2022-06-10T18:21:36","date_gmt":"2022-06-10T22:21:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1510921"},"modified":"2022-06-10T18:22:02","modified_gmt":"2022-06-10T22:22:02","slug":"paying-their-dues-how-a-leading-teachers-union-used-a-quarter-of-their-funds-to-elect-democrat-candidates","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/paying-their-dues-how-a-leading-teachers-union-used-a-quarter-of-their-funds-to-elect-democrat-candidates\/","title":{"rendered":"Paying Their Dues: How A Leading Teachers Union Used A Quarter Of Their Funds To Elect Democrat Candidates"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fpaying-their-dues-how-a-leading-teachers-union-used-a-quarter-of-their-funds-to-elect-democrat-candidates%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1510921&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>One of the nation\u2019s largest <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/teachers-unions\">teachers unions<\/a> spent $49 million \u2014 25% of its members\u2019 dues \u2014 on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/topic\/democratic-party\">political causes<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) collected nearly $197 million in dues from school employees during the 2020-2021 fiscal year \u2014 a $10 million increase, despite the union\u2019s loss of over 13,000 members, according to a report from <a href=\"https:\/\/americansforfairtreatment.org\/resources-and-data\/aft-where-do-your-union-dues-go\/\">Americans for Fair Treatment<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>During the same period, the AFT spent $49 million \u2014 nearly 25% of total dues collected \u2014 on political causes. \u201cAccording to federal law, member dues can be used for a variety of political activities, such as issue advocacy, get-out-the-vote drives, election mailers, lobbying, and public marketing campaigns,\u201d the report says.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn our experience, parents and even some teachers are not aware that teachers unions are deeply partisan political organizations,\u201d Americans for Fair Treatment researcher Suzanne Bates told The Daily Wire.<\/p>\n<p>Among other contributions, the AFT gave $11.3 million to political action funds of the New York State Union of Teachers (NYSUT), which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nysut.org\/news\/2022\/january\/media-release-endorsements\">endorsed<\/a> leading New York Democrats such as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, Governor Kathy Hochul, and Attorney General Letitia James. The AFT also gave $2.4 million to <a href=\"https:\/\/almediastrategy.com\/\">AL Media<\/a>, a creative advertising firm that seeks \u201cto protect progressive values and to win,\u201d and $1.75 million to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.senatemajority.com\/about-us\/\">Senate Majority PAC<\/a>, which exists to \u201celect Democratic senators.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to Bates, the AFT \u201cdid not give any money to conservative candidates or organizations from their members\u2019 dues.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt may be that a few Republicans received donations directly from the union\u2019s PAC, or that some of the union\u2019s affiliates gave money to Republicans, but AFT headquarters did not give any money directly to the political right,\u201d she told The Daily Wire. \u201cTeachers unions are one of the largest special interest groups in the country. They spend more on lobbying efforts than the NRA and Planned Parenthood combined.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nationalreview.com\/corner\/republicans-nra-money-critiques-ignore-planned-parenthood\/\">National Review<\/a> reported in 2018 that the two entities spent a total of $43 million on lobbying \u2014 with Planned Parenthood\u2019s efforts to support Democratic candidates constituting 88% of those funds.<\/p>\n<p>Beyond substantial salaries for leadership \u2014 including nearly $450,000 for AFT President Randi Weingarten and over $200,000 for her two assistants \u2014 the AFT also \u201cpaid $4.1 million last year to employees who engaged in political activities for the union,\u201d according to the report.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>In 2018, the Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/www.law.cornell.edu\/supremecourt\/text\/16-1466\">ruled<\/a> in Janus v. AFSCME that labor unions do not have the power to collect fees from nonmembers. Nevertheless, many teachers do not avail themselves of the opportunity for a variety of reasons.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe problem is many public sector employees might not know about this ruling,\u201d American Federation for Children national director of research Corey DeAngelis told The Daily Wire. \u201cEven if they do, they might be willing to ignore the fact that much of their dues are going to polarized political causes that don\u2019t align with their beliefs since they may need other benefits such as liability insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Indeed, the AFT offers several <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aft.org\/member-benefits\/insurance\">insurance discounts<\/a> to its members \u2014 as well as $5,000 in free term life insurance and $5,000 in free accidental death and dismemberment insurance.<\/p>\n<p>In a 2017 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.edweek.org\/leadership\/survey-educators-political-leanings-who-they-voted-for-where-they-stand-on-key-issues\/2017\/12\">poll<\/a> of school employees conducted by Education Week, 41% identified as Democrats, 30% identified as independents, and 27% identified as Republicans. Although Democrats represented the plurality of government educators, \u201cthese findings suggest a substantial number of teachers probably aren\u2019t happy about their dues going to progressive political causes,\u201d DeAngelis remarked.<\/p>\n<p>Many families have opted for school choice in the wake of public schools closing their doors in response to COVID-19. A recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/public-schools-with-more-masking-remote-classes-saw-largest-enrollment-drops-study-reveals\">study<\/a> from the American Enterprise Institute and the College Crisis Initiative at Davidson College revealed that districts with the most virtual classes churned 4.4% of their students, while districts that chose not to rely on remote classes lost 1.1% of students. Teachers unions, however, have <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/teachers-unions-are-holding-our-kids-education-hostage\">pressured schools<\/a> to remain closed.<\/p>\n<p>Over the last two years, several high-profile examples of radical progressive curricula \u2014 especially with relation to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/watch-this-is-pornography-and-this-is-grooming-school-board-shuts-mom-down-when-she-reads-from-book-available-to-schoolchildren\">gender ideology<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/report-public-schools-revamping-history-curriculum-after-study-finds-vast-majority-of-teachers-support-blm\">race relations<\/a> \u2014 have made national headlines. The AFT, however, has repeatedly nodded toward progressive activists in the <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rweingarten\/status\/1400221197074415619\">LGBTQ<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/critical-race-theory-author-headlines-aft-conference-educating-kids\">racial justice<\/a> movements.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>One <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/as-private-and-charter-schools-grew-1-4-million-children-left-traditional-public-schools-during-covid\">report<\/a> found that from March 2020 to September 2020 alone, homeschooling rates across the country grew between 5.4% and 11%. By the summer of 2021, 5 million American children were <a href=\"https:\/\/www.axios.com\/homeschooling-pandemic-critical-mass-013e4f01-c962-4e38-8cb7-8079bb597540.html\">receiving<\/a> their education at home.<\/p>\n<p>Weingarten has voiced disdain toward home education. In response to a Washington Post <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/posteverything\/wp\/2015\/04\/10\/racism-in-schools-is-pushing-more-black-families-to-homeschool-their-children\/\">article<\/a> attributing the rise in homeschooling among black families to racism, Weingarten <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/rweingarten\/status\/587758356225376256\">said<\/a> that such a decision is \u201cnot okay\u201d \u2014 because \u201cno child should choose homeschooling because of how they are treated at school.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe teachers unions have overplayed their hand and awakened a sleeping giant: parents who want more of a say in their children\u2019s education,\u201d DeAngelis commented. \u201cFor a long time, the employee unions were the only major special interest groups in K-12 education. Thankfully, parents are the new<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>One of the nation\u2019s largest teachers unions spent $49 million \u2014 25% of its members\u2019 dues \u2014 on political causes. The American Federation of Teachers (AFT) collected nearly $197 million in dues from school employees during the 2020-2021 fiscal year \u2014 a $10 million increase, despite the union\u2019s loss of over 13,000 members, according to &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":1510947,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1510921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1510921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1510921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1510921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1510947"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1510921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1510921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1510921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}