A nonpartisan watchdog says the spending is “completely divorced” from the union’s core mission.
A federal labor filing indicates that one of the nation’s largest teachers unions directed millions of dollars in member-funded spending toward activist organizations, ballot initiatives, and social-justice-focused groups, according to documents reviewed by the North American Values Institute (NAVI).
The disclosure — a Form L-2 filing tied to the National Education Association’s (NEA) 2024 fiscal-year spending — lists payments to a range of organizations and campaigns, including groups aligned with progressive policy priorities.
Among the expenditures cited in the filing:
- $300,000 to the Sixteen Thirty Fund, described as a liberal “dark money” group in prior reporting.
- Tens of thousands of dollars to entities within the Tides Foundation network, which has been linked in earlier coverage to a variety of progressive causes.
- More than $3.5 million to Education International, a global teachers federation where NEA President Becky Pringle serves as a vice president.
The filing also outlines funding for ballot-initiative activity across multiple states, including efforts related to education policy and election laws in Ohio, Massachusetts, Arizona, and Wisconsin.
The union reported spending $500,000 to support a campaign aimed at ending standardized testing in Massachusetts, another $500,000 backing an anti-gerrymandering amendment in Ohio, and nearly $500,000 paid to a progressive political consulting firm that specializes in ballot initiatives and canvassing.
Separate from electoral activity, the filing also lists payments to consulting and advocacy groups focused on equity and curriculum issues. The NEA paid more than $166,000 to Imagine Us LLC, described as a consulting firm focused on racial equity training, along with additional payments to organizations promoting what they call “social justice education,” including curriculum materials addressing race, gender identity, and activism in K–12 settings.
The filing also shows $350,000 paid to the Schott Foundation, which describes itself as “a BIPOC-led public fund that pools philanthropic funding and fuels racial and education justice movements.”
“This is the upshot of social justice unionism,” NAVI Director of Research Mika Hackner said. “Instead of focusing on member’s working conditions, unions spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on pet political projects completely divorced from the needs and wants of most teachers but perfectly in line with the political agenda the union has been co-opted to serve.”
The NEA has faced longstanding criticism from opponents who argue it prioritizes political advocacy over classroom concerns. In November, Fox News Digital reported on documents it said showed internal guidance for members on workplace gender transition policies, including pronoun use and materials describing conservative opposition in harsh terms.
Erika Sanzi, senior director of communications for Defending Education, said the union’s federal charter should be reconsidered.
Sanzi said, “Their federal charter was granted because they promised to ‘elevate the character and advance the interests of the profession of teaching; and to promote the cause of education in the United States.’ Seeing as their leadership — and by extension, the organization itself — has morphed into a far-left insane asylum that is actively destroying the cause of education, that charter is no longer defensible.”
