The nation’s second-largest teachers union spent more than a quarter of its 2020-2021 expenditures on political causes, according to a report by a public sector union watchdog group.
The report by nonprofit group Americans for Fair Treatment, which has been reviewed by the Washington Examiner, found the American Federation of Teachers raked in over $196 million in membership dues during the 2020-2021 fiscal year, a $10 million increase over the previous year, despite losing more than 13,000 members.
Of the nearly $200 million the union collected in dues, $49 million, or 27%, went to political donations that overwhelmingly favored Democratic political organizations and groups advocating overtly liberal causes. The union also spent an additional $6 million on “contributions, gifts, and grants,” which also largely went to politically charged causes.
LARGEST TEACHERS UNION SPENT TWICE AS MUCH ON POLITICS AS ON MEMBER NEEDS
Randi Weingarten, the president of the AFT, has long been a vocal advocate for liberal political causes, but despite the enormous sum the union dedicated to politics, the union did spend 36% of its budget on “representational activities,” a significantly higher percentage than the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union, which only spent 9% on member needs.
“AFT President Randi Weingarten uses teachers’ union dues to fund her pet progressive political projects,” Americans for Fair Treatment CEO David Osborne said. “The overtly political manner in which Weingarten and the teachers union present themselves has alienated many of their members — and for good reason. Teachers’ jobs are hard enough without AFT’s extreme political agenda.”
The biggest beneficiaries of the AFT’s political spending included a $11.3 million donation to the political advocacy fund for New York State United Teachers, which primarily funnels money to Democratic candidates, a $1.75 million donation to the Senate Majority PAC, a political action committee dedicated to maintaining a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate, and a $1.5 million donation to the House Majority PAC, which works to maintain a Democratic majority in the House of Representatives.
Other organizations that received donations from the union include the Congressional Progressive Caucus Center, which received $200,000, the National Democratic Redistricting Commission, which received $50,000, and $250,000 to the liberal Economic Policy Center.
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The union also provided a $10,000 donation to the United States Heartland China Association, which aims to “support a positive, productive, and mutually beneficial relationship between the United States and China.”
The AFT did not respond to a request for comment.
