American kids can't read and their teachers' unions just found something better to do with the money.
This summer, both of America's biggest teacher unions put the same item on their agenda – and it had nothing to do with classrooms.
What they voted to spend teacher dues on – and how much – exposed what’s broken about government education.
NEA and AFT Passed Resolutions Calling for Trump Impeachment and Removal
The National Education Association passed New Business Item 10 at its July annual convention, directing the union to call for President Donald Trump's impeachment, conviction and removal from office – and to organize a National March on Washington before the November midterms.
The price tag: $5,236,193, billed directly to member dues, according to internal documents obtained by school choice advocate Corey DeAngelis.
That is five million dollars – pulled straight from teachers' paychecks – to pursue a political stunt with zero path to success in a Republican-controlled Congress.
The American Federation of Teachers did the same at its own July convention in Washington. AFT delegates formally resolved that Trump's presidency represented a "fascist takeover" and demanded his impeachment "as soon as possible."
AFT President Randi Weingarten led that charge while collecting $514,488 in annual salary and benefits.
Former NEA President Rebecca Pringle, who championed the union's impeachment push before being succeeded at the July convention, pulled in $514,755 in total annual compensation.
The average American earns $69,846.
Teacher Union Political Donations Maxed Out for Democrats Zero for Republicans
None of this is surprising. It is just louder now.
Union Facts records show the NEA directed more than $51 million into political operations and lobbying in 2025 – out of a total budget of $448 million. The AFT added another $41 million on top of that.
Federal campaign records show the AFT hit the legal maximum for contributions to every Democratic member of the House Education Committee – 16 lawmakers – during the 2025-26 cycle, while the NEA contributed $5,000 to each.
Not one dollar from either union went to a single Republican on that same committee, according to a Center Square investigation of Federal Election Commission records.
The AFT alone pumped $1.25 million into the Senate Majority PAC and another $1.25 million into the House Majority PAC between June 2025 and March 2026, according to the FEC. That money has one purpose: flipping Congress away from Republicans before the midterms.
Since 1990, teacher unions have sent at least 94 cents of every political dollar to Democrats, without exception, according to OpenSecrets. Over the past decade, the two unions and their state affiliates funneled more than $1 billion toward left-wing causes, according to a Defending Education watchdog report reviewed by Fox News Digital.
More than $85 million went directly to Democratic Party entities at the federal, state and local levels – not counting individual candidate contributions.
How Taxpayer-Funded Teacher Union Dues Became Democrat Campaign Cash
The NEA pulls in $391 million in annual membership dues. The AFT takes in another $274 million. Every dollar traces back to teacher paychecks, which come from taxpayers.
"The kids are there basically to provide justification for what is essentially a huge grift by the unions to squeeze more money out of the taxpayers," Lance Izumi of the Pacific Research Institute told The Center Square.
According to Fox News Digital, a Defending Education investigation found the bulk of what the two unions spend goes to political operations, executive compensation and left-wing causes – including now a five-million-dollar march to remove a president that millions of teachers themselves voted for.
Meanwhile, fewer than one in three American fourth graders can read at grade level, according to the National Assessment of Educational Progress.
The AFT added resolutions at its July convention pushing sex change procedures for minors and pledging to challenge Trump administration healthcare policies in court.
Delegates also voted on resolutions against U.S. military involvement in Iran and demanding cuts to the defense budget.
Not one resolution on why American kids can't read.
The unions know impeachment is impossible in a Republican-controlled Congress. That $5.2 million was never about removing Trump – it was about turning teachers into a Democrat ground force before November. Call it what it is: a campaign, paid for by people who just wanted to teach.
This is not a union that advocates for teachers. It is a Democrat Party subsidiary disguised as a labor organization – one that forces teachers to fund the machine whether they voted for Trump or not, and runs their paychecks through as the entry fee.
Sources:
- Andrew Mark Miller, "Watchdog report exposes teachers union 'political machine' funneling more than $1 billion to liberal causes," Fox News, April 27, 2026.
- Jim Hoft, "National Education Association Demands to Impeach, Convict, and Remove President Donald Trump," The Gateway Pundit, July 6, 2026.
- Esther Wickham, "Teacher union leaders earn half a million; critics say it's at taxpayers' expense," The Center Square, August 17, 2026.
- Esther Wickham, "Teacher unions dedicate money to political activism, lobbying," The Center Square, August 18, 2026.
- Esther Wickham, "Teacher unions funnel funds to Democratic lawmakers," The Center Square, August 19, 2026.
- Esther Wickham, "Teacher unions contribute millions to Dems' state campaigns," The Center Square, August 20, 2026.