TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida educators are leaving their union in striking numbers.
The Florida Education Association, the state’s largest teachers union, lost 28,063 members since fiscal year 2020—a 19.5% decline. More than 20,000 members disappeared from its rolls in a single year after Florida ended automatic payroll dues deductions and required public-sector unions to demonstrate support from their members.
Now, a new series of reports from Americans for Fair Treatment provides a closer look at what educators and other Florida public employees are paying for when they choose to remain union members.
AFFT’s latest “Where Do Your Dues Go?” project examines FY 2025 financial filings from five union organizations with Florida operations: the Florida Education Association, AFSCME Florida, SEIU Florida State Council, United Teachers of Dade and 1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East.
The findings raise this question:
As workers reconsider union membership, are unions giving them enough value to stay?
At FEA, just $10.4 million—14.6% of total spending—went to representational activities, while $32.2 million, or 45.2%, was forwarded to the NEA and AFT. FEA also reported $11.5 million in employee compensation, $7.3 million in employee benefits and $493,523 in hotel and resort vendor payments.
United Teachers of Dade presents a similar question for Miami-Dade educators. Its single largest expense was $4.4 million in payments to affiliated unions—42.1% of everything it spent. Salaries, benefits and payroll taxes consumed another 37.4%, and UTD finished FY 2025 with a $269,092 deficit. Its Form 990 does not separately disclose direct representational spending.
“Florida educators are voting with their feet,” said Chip Rogers, CEO of Americans for Fair Treatment. “Nearly one in five FEA members has left since 2020. The question is why. These reports speak for the teachers who walked away, and they show exactly what teachers are being asked to pay for. Only 15 cents of every FEA dollar went to representation while 45 cents went to national affiliates. Workers deserve those receipts before deciding whether membership is worth the price.”
The Florida reports show that the membership pressure extends beyond education unions.
AFSCME Florida spent just 5.6% of its FY 2025 disbursements on representational activities while sending 82.8% to AFSCME International and other affiliates. Its regular membership fell from 17,881 in FY 2020 to 9,898 in FY 2025—a 44.6% decline.
SEIU Florida State Council reported $0 in representational activities in FY 2025 and only $7,550 over the preceding decade. Its reported affiliated membership fell 35.6% in one year.
1199 SEIU United Healthcare Workers East, a multistate union, reported 26.9% of its organization-wide spending on representation, while spending $54.9 million on general overhead, $34.5 million on staff benefits and $19.3 million on politics and lobbying nationwide.
The reports also examine political committees tied to several of the unions, executive compensation, lobbying, affiliate transfers and other expenses.
“This is what accountability looks like,” Rogers said. “When workers have to make an affirmative decision about whether to pay dues, unions have to make the case that membership is worth it. AFFT’s job is not to make that decision for them. Our job is to make sure they can see the numbers before they do.”
Under the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Janus v. AFSCME, public-sector employees cannot be required to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. AFFT provides free information and assistance to employees who want to understand and exercise their constitutional rights.
Read the Florida reports and see the receipts: