More than $43 million in membership dues has gone to these type of organizations from two unions since 2023, according to a new report by Defending Education. Those unions are the National Education Association (NEA) or the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
Sheri Few is president and founder of United States Parents Involved in Education, or USPIE. She spoke with AFN to share analysis on these findings and to advise what teachers should do now.
"It's shocking to see that amount of money being funneled into the left-wing political organizations. I mean, $43.5 million is a ton of money. We're not sure where they get all of their money from, but we know a vast majority of it comes from dues that are paid by teachers," informs Few.
She said 70% of government school teachers are now represented by these two unions, which equates to 3.2 million teachers. The groups receiving the money include the Trevor Project and others.
"They gave over $300,000 to a group called Race Forward, which is all about racial justice and racial equity, which are keywords when we're looking for critical race theory. So, we know what that organization was pushing,” says Few.
Few also mentioned that the second largest sum of money, $250,000, was given to Building Back Together, which was dedicated to promoting the Biden administration's agenda.
Furthermore, she said her team knows that there is support for inappropriate books containing pornography in school libraries and classrooms. An article from the Daily Caller affirms that the money was supporting groups that promoted gender ideology initiatives and ‘diversity, equity, and inclusion’ programs.
She advised teachers who are Christians, saying that if they belong to one of these unions, the NEA or the AFT, to consider joining a different one.
"If they need a union at all, I've done a little bit research quickly on the internet, and there are some Christian teacher unions that would be better served if they are planning to pay dues to a union," states Few.
