Teachers’ unions lead the way in union decline 

Teachers’ unions are at the forefront of a steep decline in public sector union membership, according to a recent report.

The Freedom Foundation, a think tank opposing union lobbying for “bigger government, higher taxes and radical social agendas,” reported a record number of government employees leaving unions in the first half of 2025.

The foundation helped 5,170 public employees leave their former unions in May alone, resulting in $4.9 million in lost dues.

Over 2,500 of those employees were from California, bringing the total to nearly 21,000 workers nationwide this year. “More than just a financial hit to the radical political agenda of union bosses, these numbers signify a power shift in the labor movement,” wrote Freedom Foundation’s National Director Michael Ciccio in September 2024. “The myth that government unions serve their members’ best interests is crumbling.  

“More and more workers are recognizing that these organizations often prioritize advancing their own special interests over protecting the rights and needs of their members.” 

Over the past 30 years, the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) – one of the largest national groups – has contributed the vast majority of its gifts to Democratic politicians.

In the 2022 midterms, AFT and the National Education Association (NEA) donated $1.3 million to Democrats while giving only $2,500 to Republicans.

Meanwhile, the NEA spent twice as much money on political lobbying as it did on actually representing its own members, one news report found in 2020-2021. 

During the same timeframe, teachers’ unions in particular are bleeding members.  

The NEA lost over 12,000 members during the 2022-23 school year, the Freedom Foundation reported. Previous years have noted a similar trend, with the NEA and AFT losing a combined 59,000 members in the 2021-22 year.  

Ciccio praised employees for reclaiming power from union bosses.  

“As public employees continue to retake control of their workplace representation by holding funding from Big Labor’s misguided priorities, the Freedom Foundation’s determination to empower workers isn’t slowing anytime soon,” he concluded.