National Education Association Gives 99% of Political Funding on Democrats

Public school teachers and other education professionals who are more interested in plying their trade than they are in politics are getting a poor return on their union dues, according to financial records.

Both the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) sent about 99 percent of their political contributions to Democrats, according to the most recent figures for the 2024 election cycle—funds siphoned from their members' paychecks to pay for "progressive" causes.

Yet public-sector employees who do not support the political agenda of the NEA and AFT are no longer required to pay union dues or fees thanks to a 2018 U.S. Supreme Court ruling. For those who remain union members, though, there is no getting around the fact they are funding a left-wing political agenda.

Americans for Fair Treatment, a nonprofit that advocates for free speech rights on behalf of public employees, has pulled together some insightful figures that should pique the interest of rank-and-file union members. For the 2024 election cycle, 98.1 percent of the NEA's contributions went to Democrats totaling $3.3 million.

In contrast, Republicans received just $63,000, or 1.90 percent of the NEA's election spending.

The story is much the same with AFT. In the 2024 election cycle, 99.9 percent of AFT's contributions went to Democrats totaling $2.7 million.

Yet Republicans received just $2,800, or 0.10 percent of AFT's election spending.

Supreme Court Ruling a Game Changer?

But the Supreme Court ruling in Janus v. AFSCME that invalidated state laws requiring public employees to pay union dues or fees could prove to be a game changer. Prior to the ruling, teachers who decided not to join their district's union still had to pay fees as a nonmember. AFFT encourages teachers to become more aware of how their unions spend money on politics. For those teachers who no longer want to fund their union's political activities, AFFT has an opt-out form on its website.

Since the Supreme Court restored free speech rights to teachers and other public-school employees in 2018, there are some indications more teachers are voting with their feet. AFFT estimates that NEA has lost about 51,987 members since 2021 based on the union's reports.

The NEA is the largest labor union in the country representing almost 3 million employees with affiliates in every state. AFT is the second largest teachers' union in the country behind the NEA representing about 1.5 million members. AFT is also a member of the AFL-CIO, which backs Democrats.

As Restoration News previously reported, the amount of monthly dues paid to the teachers unions vary per state, but most of the dues are paid to the NEA and its state affiliates with only a tiny percentage devoted to the local union.

(READ MORE: Will Teachers Cost New Jersey Democrats the 2025 Governor's Race?)