VIRGINIA: Teachers’ Unions Focus on Politics—Not Teachers
Rather than advocate for better benefits, the local Virginia Beach teachers’ union (VBEA) pushes social justice and political agendas.
Virginia Beach Schools recently announced significant increases in health insurance premiums. A local attorney filed a lawsuit to stop the increases, claiming fraud. Meanwhile the teachers’ union remained silent on the topic for over a year.
Virginia Beach Schools Superintendent Donald Robertson notified employees about significant health insurance cost increases that will begin January 2026. Local attorney and candidate for Virginia Delegate Tim Anderson filed a lawsuit against Robertson for “fraudulent concealment of a material fact” claiming the information wasn’t disclosed until just after employees signed their contracts.
The Virginia Beach Education Association (VBEA)—a subsidiary of the National Education Association (NEA)—was warned at public meetings for over a year that rates could increase but did nothing to try to stop it. When cost increases were announced, the VBEA feigned surprise.
(READ MORE: Why Are So Many Small Town Virginia School Districts Under Investigation?)
The Virginia Beach School Board began discussing rising health insurance rates in July 2024 when administration notified them of rising claims costs. The school board discussed the issue in multiple meetings over the next year and VBEA representatives attended and spoke at every meeting. Yet, the VBEA didn’t advocate to keep benefit costs from increasing.
In a March 2025 budget meeting, Superintendent Robertson told the board there was a significant deficit in the healthcare fund and warned rates could increase in 2026. He said he would bring the issue back to the board at a later date, but it doesn’t appear that happened.
Union President’s E-mails with Senior Staff
Heather Sipe, the VBEA President, was more focused on demanding the school board keep racist diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) practices than address health insurance concerns. Shortly after Robertson announced potential rate increases, Sipe spoke at the April 22nd school board meeting pushing the board not to eliminate DEI in the district claiming they must advocate for equity not equality. Not once did she mention the looming health insurance rate increases. In fact, she pushed her political activism in the meeting by wearing a tee shirt that read, “Freedom to be…Freedom to love…Freedom to vote…Elections Matter.”
Image viaYouTubeRestoration News reviewed Sipe’s communications with school district leaders obtained through a public records request. Sipe met regularly with senior level administration including the chief of staff and human resources director. Sipe's e-mails included requests for contact lists of all employees, presumably for the union to solicit members.
Just after Robertson’s March announcement of potential increases in healthcare costs, Sipe sent emails to the chief of staff—but none of them mentioned insurance premiums. Instead, Sipe asked how teachers could get professional leave to attend the union convention and whether teachers could use school district vans for “professional conferences.” Not once in the hundreds of pages of documents of Sipe's communications did she question healthcare costs.
On Aug. 15, Sipe told the media she was blindsided by the insurance premium increase. Either the union wasn’t paying attention to any of the school board meetings they attended, or Sipe was lying.
Sipe initially said the union was exploring legal options but after Tim Anderson announced his lawsuit, rather than work with him, Sipe said the union would try to negotiate directly with the school board. The VBEA endorsed Anderson’s opponent in the upcoming November House of Delegates race. Anderson, a Republican, told Restoration News the VBEA never reached out to him regarding an endorsement interview. It appears they just blindly endorsed the Democrat ticket.
Virginia Beach has nearly 15,000 school employees, yet the VBEA’s membership is only a tiny fraction of that amount. While the VBEA won’t disclose their membership numbers, a public records request reveals only 1,046 employees have payroll deductions for union dues. The union failed at their primary job of “advocacy for education professionals.”
Rather than focusing on the needs of their members, the VBEA focuses on the social justice narratives of their NEA overlords. Every VBEA dues paying member should demand a refund and a release from their union contract.
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