Teachers Pay $11.6 Billion Bill While Scores Plummet

You might think your hard-earned teaching salary goes toward books or supplies. The numbers tell a harsher story. Teachers are paying for the most expensive midterm in history while their students fail. This November will cost $11.6 billion in political ads alone. That figure beats the spending on the entire 2024 presidential race. Most educators have no idea their paycheck is funding these ads.

Union leaders have steered over $1 billion in dues into political causes over the last decade. According to Townhall, the National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers spent $669 million since 2015. Democrat Party committees received over $85 million directly. Another $60 million funded the State Engagement Fund. This is a progressive group most teachers have never even heard of.

The Dues Breakdown

The flow of money is stark when you look at the receipts. In just one year, the NEA collected roughly $390 million in dues and fees. $51.7 million was used by them for lobbying and political activities. They handed out another $123.3 million in contributions and grants. This included $300,000 to the Sixteen Thirty Fund. This organization represents the biggest dark money network on the left.

Only $46 million went to actually representing teachers. That is less than ten cents on the dollar. The AFT spent $37 million on politics in the year ending June 30. The Center for American Progress received $250,000 among their grants. They also sent $100,000 to Emily’s List and $75,000 to the Clinton Foundation. Meanwhile, union presidents make nearly a million dollars a year.

Randi Weingarten was paid $546,158 for the year. Becky Pringle, the NEA equivalent, earned $514,755. Matching that amount would require a $55,000 teacher more than nine years. None of this expenditure received a vote from the rank and file. Pringle acknowledged that Democrats do not make up two-thirds of NEA members. Yet the money still flows to liberal causes.

Costs Rise as Scores Fall

While the unions spend billions on politics, schools spend record amounts on students. In fiscal 2024, public schools allocated a record $17,619 per student. That number is before adjusting for inflation. The lowest scores ever were recorded by seniors tested that year. The Nation’s Report Card has never seen results this bad.

Reading performance for fourth and eighth graders mirrors levels from the early 1990s. That slide began before the pandemic ever started. Math scores below the basic level were achieved by 45 percent of seniors. Thirty-two percent fell below basic in reading. Those are the largest shares ever recorded. Money did not fix the problem.

Spending increased 20.4 percent between 2003 and 2022, according to a Texas A and M research center. In 36 states, spending went up while scores finished below their 2003 marks. Only six states improved in both subjects. Two economists tested the union angle directly. States with stronger unions demonstrated lower proficiency rates, per their findings. The data suggests political money buys influence over school rules.

A Question of Duty

We must ask who decided to spend our money this way. The unions were assigned to represent teachers. Yet they represent a political agenda instead. Epictetus held that your business is “to act well the character assigned you.” The unions have failed that charge.