(The Center Square) – The two largest national teacher unions and their state affiliates have directed millions of taxpayer-funded membership dues to Democratic state lawmakers’ campaigns, an investigation by The Center Square found.
The American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association have millions of members around the country and receive millions of dollars in membership dues annually. Union members pay membership dues via payroll deduction from taxpayer-funded salaries. Many teacher union critics argue that these dues are taxpayer dollars.
As of 2025, the NEA has almost three million members and received around $391 million from membership dues, according to Union Facts, a nonprofit that focuses on transparency and accountability.
AFT has 1.8 million members, receiving approximately $274 million in receipts during the fiscal year, according to the U.S. Department of Labor LM-2 filings. (According to the department, LM-2 filings are annual financial reports from labor organizations with $250,000 or more in receipts.)
AFT also contributed $1.25 million to the Senate Majority Political Action Committee and $1.25 million to the House Majority PAC between June 2025 and March 2026, supporting the Democratic Party’s efforts to secure majorities in Congress, according to the Federal Election Commission.
The political activity of teachers’ unions is concentrated in states where unions have large memberships and established political operations, including the blue states of California, New York and Illinois.
Unions also participate in politics in Republican-led states like Florida and Texas, though the influence may differ due to state labor laws.
In California, Illinois, Texas and New York, unions donated money to Democrats and not Republicans, according to public filings. In Florida, teacher unions donated to candidates from both parties.
The Center Square reached out to both the NEA and AFT multiple times for comment, but union officials did not respond.
California
California provides one of the clearest examples of teacher-union political spending.
The California Teachers Association and California Federation of Teachers operate political committees that contribute to candidates and political organizations.
Campaign finance records show contributions from teacher unions to California Attorney General Rob Bonta, The Center Square found.
California Federation of Teachers COPE contributed $19,600 in April 2025 and the California Teachers Association/Association for Better Citizenship in March 2026 also contributed $19,600, according to Transparency USA. An additional $7,100 came from CFT COPE, and another $2,500 came from CFT COPE.
That adds up to $48,800 in donations to the Democratic attorney general’s reelection efforts.
Tony Thurmond, the Democratic California superintendent of public instruction, also received a large contribution from teacher unions. California Teachers Association/Association for Better Citizenship contributed $32,400, followed by $16,200 from the American Federation of Teachers Federal and $6,400 from California Federation of Teachers COPE.
That totals $55,000 in teacher union contributions, according to Transparency USA.
CTA contributed almost $2 million to California Gov. Gavin Newsom, opposing his recall election back in 2021.
The CTA also contributed $4 million to support the Democratic governor’s Proposition 50, the 2025 ballot measure that temporarily changed California’s congressional district boundaries to favor Democrats.
The CTA did not respond to The Center Square’s requests for comment.
Florida
The state is controlled by Republicans, but teacher unions continue to participate in political campaigns. The Florida Education Association’s political operation contributed $50,000 to the Florida Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee, according to campaign finance records.
Records show teacher unions donated $25,000 to Jose Rodriguez, the Democratic candidate for state attorney general. But it isn’t just Democrats who get money from the unions, which donated $30,000 to state Sen. Jim Boyd, the Republican majority leader, and $25,000 to Conservatives for A Better Florida.
Florida’s Constitution protects public employees’ right to bargain collectively, although state law places significant restrictions on public-sector unions.
FEA President Andrew Spar told The Center Square that the union’s political activity is driven by concerns about public school funding and school-choice policies. Spar said the union supports increasing funding for public schools, raising teacher pay and establishing consistent standards for schools receiving public funds.
“Florida’s parents and taxpayers deserve a fair, transparent, honest, and accountable education system. But right now, the inequities in education are significant and are leaving too many students behind,” Spar told The Center Square. “Protecting our children and their public schools should be a fundamental principle we can unite on during elections and beyond.”
Illinois
The Chicago Teachers Union Local PAC contributed $115,000 to the Working Families Party National PAC in 2022. The WFP National PAC is a political action committee linked to the Working Families Party, a progressive U.S. political organization that supports labor rights, universal healthcare and higher taxes on the wealthy.
The PAC also contributed $2,500 to the Democratic Party of Illinois, according to the FEC filings.
The Illinois PAC for Education and Illinois Federation of Teachers COPE were major contributors, with $6.65 million and $6.51 million. The Chicago Teachers Union PAC contributed $2 million, according to Transparency USA.
The Illinois Federation of Teachers COPE has also contributed $47,800 to Democratic Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul and $177,500 to another Democrat, Illinois House Speaker Emanuel Welch.
Both the IEA and IFT have endorsed and financially supported Gov. J.B. Pritzker. In 2018, when the Democrat ran for governor, the IEA PAC contributed $111,910, according to Transparency USA.
Texas
Texas has a different labor system.
State law prohibits school districts from entering into traditional collective bargaining agreements with labor organizations. That has not prevented teacher unions from participating in elections and political advocacy.
Rusty Brown, director of special projects at the Freedom Foundation, which advocates against public-sector unions, said the lack of collective-bargaining rights in Texas makes elections particularly important to teacher organizations.
“When they don’t have that collective bargaining power, they need to replace it; so what they use is the elections,” Brown told The Center Square.
The Texas State Teachers Association contributed $47,297.57 to NEA Fund for Children & Public Education Federal, $37,355.99 to MAP Political Communication, and $25,273.10 to Stones Phones. Stones’ Phones is a political telephone consulting firm working with Democratic and progressive campaigns.
The PAC also reported donations of a few thousand dollars to several Democratic candidates, including Texas House Reps. Gina Hinojosa, Adrian Reyna and Montserrat Garribay, and Sen. Judith Zaffirini, according to Transparency USA.
New York
New York is another state that has heavy political involvement by teacher unions.
The New York State United Teachers has endorsed Democratic statewide candidates, including Gov. Kathy Hochul and Attorney General Letitia James.
Voice of Teachers for Education or Committee on Political Education contributed $415,800 to the New York State Democratic Committee, $378,600 to the Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee and $352,200 to the Democratic Senate Campaign Committee, for a combined $1.1466 million.
There are also contributions from VOTE-COPE and the American Federation of Teachers AFL-CIO to Hochul for $36,000 and James for $9,000.
Influence on the local, state levels
Aaron Smith, director of education reform at the Reason Foundation, said teacher unions have their greatest political influence at the state and local levels, where many education decisions are made.
“Teacher unions’ influence is greatest at the state and local levels, where most K-12 policy decisions are made,” Smith said.
Smith said the Supreme Court’s 2018 Janus v. AFSCME decision, which prohibited public-sector unions from requiring nonmembers to pay agency fees, weakened unions but did not eliminate their political influence.
