National teachers’ union losing members by the thousands

The National Education Association is losing members by the thousands, and critics blame its political spending for alienating teachers.

The NEA – America’s largest teachers’ union – lost over 12,000 members during the 2022-23 school year, reported the Freedom Foundation.

Although the union boasts 3 million members, a 2022 report estimated fewer than 2.5 million educators still retain their membership.

The Freedom Foundation blames the NEA’s political – and highly partisan – spending for alienating teachers.

About one-third (over $176 million) of the union’s budget goes directly to “Political Activities and Contributions,” while another 46% is devoted to “Overhead” and “Accumulation of Assets.” 

A meager 8% is spent on “Representational Activities.”

“It’s clear that the NEA has become little more than an ideologically divisive political advocacy group attempting to capitalize on the workplace concerns of educators,” Aaron Withe, CEO of the Freedom Foundation, wrote in a column for Fox News.  

“So long as NEA’s power-hungry political agenda distracts its leadership from refocusing on issues in the classroom, it’s only a matter of time before membership losses push the union past the point of no return.”  

The NEA’s controversial activities in recent years – including pushing for school closures, promoting illegal strikes, and supporting divisive social justice ideology – has put it at odds with many of the teachers it represents. 

Yet the NEA isn’t the only union bleeding members.  

The nation’s second largest teachers’ union, the American Federation for Teachers, is also losing educators by the thousands.  

A 2022 report found the nation’s top four public unions – which include the NEA and AFT – lost over 200,000 members in the four years since the Supreme Court’s Janus v. AFSCME decision, which ruled public employees could not be forced to join a union or pay fees to a union to which they did not belong.