The nation’s largest teachers union, the National Education Association (NEA), often portrays itself as the noble champion of teachers, students, and academic excellence.
But its own actions increasingly tell a different story.
A leaked NEA training presentation from February shows a virtual session for K-12 educators focused not on improving literacy rates, boosting math proficiency, or helping teachers manage classrooms. Instead, the training centered on political activism — criticizing federal policy, condemning “red state governments,” and advising educators how to respond when parents object to political messaging or symbols in the classroom.
This was not a rogue activist group or outside advocacy organization.
It was an official union training session.
That focus would be troubling at any time. But it is especially alarming given the crisis facing American students.
According to the most recent results from the National Assessment of Educational Progress — often called the Nation’s Report Card — only 31% of eighth-grade students are proficient in reading and just 26% are proficient in math. Those scores remain significantly below pre-pandemic levels.
Meanwhile, chronic absenteeism has surged. Federal data show that nearly one in three U.S. students were chronically absent during the 2021–2022 school year, meaning they missed at least 10 percent of school days.
These numbers represent millions of children who are falling behind academically and disengaging from school.
In the face of this reality, the nation’s largest teachers union should be laser-focused on academic recovery, teacher retention, school safety, and restoring order in classrooms.
Instead, the NEA continues to devote enormous resources to political activism.
According to federal filings compiled by the nonprofit watchdog OpenSecrets, the NEA has spent tens of millions of dollars on federal elections and political activity, overwhelmingly supporting Democratic candidates and causes. Since 1990, more than 90 percent of the union’s federal political contributions have gone to Democrats.
The union’s priorities are also evident in its policy advocacy. In recent years, NEA leadership has taken strong positions on a wide range of political issues far removed from classroom instruction including national election policy, policing policy, climate legislation, and foreign policy matters.
Teachers deserve better than to be treated as political foot soldiers.
Many educators entered the profession to help children learn, grow, and succeed, not to serve as the front line of partisan activism. And millions of parents simply want schools to focus on what matters most: teaching kids to read, write, and think critically.
When a union spends its time training educators to see parents and policymakers as adversaries rather than partners, it erodes trust in public education.
And when political activism becomes the central mission of the nation’s largest teachers union, it raises a fundamental question: Who is actually being served?
America’s teachers deserve representation that prioritizes their profession and their students, not a political machine that treats classrooms as a battleground for ideological campaigns.
Until that changes, the gap between what parents expect from their schools and what union leadership is delivering will only continue to grow.
And America’s students will be the ones who pay the price.