New financial disclosures highlight the power of America’s two biggest teachers unions and their overwhelming tendency to financially support the Left — with the unions having donated $1.3 million to Democrats going into the 2022 election cycle compared to just $2,500 for Republicans.
Per Fox News, between 2020 and 2021, the National Education Association gave over $8 million to left-wing dark money groups such as the State Innovation Exchange, Strategic Victory Fund, and State Engagement Fund. The latter, which received $6.5 million of the teachers union’s cash, exists under the umbrella of the Democracy Alliance
Democracy Alliance is the brainchild of socialist megadonor George Soros. According to its website, Democracy Alliance was created in 2013 to keep supporters of Barack Obama engaged, using its network, technology, and volunteers to support issues such as “gun violence, women’s health, comprehensive immigration reform, middle-class job creation, climate change, marriage equality, and other legislative priorities at the state level.”
The teachers unions didn’t stop the cash flow to the Left during the COVID-19 outbreak. While parents were growing weary of school closures and restrictive pandemic policies such as masks, the NEA and the American Federation of Teachers increased their contributions to Democrats and liberal groups totaling more than $65 million.
Fox News notes:
The partisan influence is not limited to issues that affect the classroom. In October, AFT President, Randi Weingarten issued a statement on President Biden’s infrastructure and spending bills, “Congress must move forward and pass the Build Back Better Act and the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, and lead our country forward in this critical moment.”
Notably, Weingarten unsuccessfully campaigned for former Democratic Governor Terry McAuliffe, who lost in an upset victory to Republican Glenn Youngkin. Both the NEA and the AFT disclosed a combined contribution of $600,000 toward McAuliffe’s campaign.
As OpenSecrets.org shows, donations from the two unions have risen, climbing from $4.3 million in 2004 to more than $32 million in 2016.
The same data reveals that the NEA and AFT have given $1.3 million to Democrats and just $2,500 to Republicans for the 2022 cycle.
The teachers unions have been instruments of the Left not only financially, but ideologically.
NEA, for instance, endorsed the national organization Black Lives Matter at School (BLMS), which is seeking to foment a “new uprising for racial justice” by injecting Black Lives Matter’s “guiding principles” (including concepts such as “globalism,” “transgender affirming” and “queer affirming”) into school curricula throughout the country.
The union’s EDJustice website extolls BLMS, arguing that “As racism and xenophobia become more prevalent and overt in our schools and communities, it is more important than ever to listen to and elevate the voices, experiences, and history of our fellow citizens and communities under attack.”
NEA has committed itself to incorporating Critical Race Theory (CRT) in grades K-12, and argues that it is “reasonable and appropriate” to use CRT in social-studies classes.
Meanwhile, AFT in 2020 authorized its members to go on strike if their schools don’t meet their standards for a “safe” reopening amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In her announcement of this policy, union president Randi Weingarten called President Trump’s approach to school reopenings “chaotic and catastrophic,” claiming the administration has left educators angry and fearful.
The 1.7 million school employee-strong union says it will lend its support to any local chapter that wishes to strike over their school’s reopening plans. According to the organization, school houses should only open back up in places where infection rates are low and schools can enact safety measures.
There’s also the case of the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU), which in 2019 sent a delegation to Venezuela to show support for the socialist regime of Nicolás Maduro.
CTU employee Sarah Chambers praised Maduro’s handling of the country amid hyperinflation, power outages, and widespread shortages of basic necessities such as toiletries.
“Through major economic hardships, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro never closed a single public school or a single health clinic,” Chambers stated. She contrasted his presidential performance with Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, who “closed 50 public schools and several mental health clinics in a single year.”
The teachers unions have long been accused of favoring Democrats, but they have become brazen in recent years as they go all in for the Marxist agenda.
