WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) - Two of the nation’s largest teachers’ unions have lost more than 2% of their memberships amid increasingly divisive political activism, according to a union watchdog.
“For the last two years, our national teachers’ unions have proven they are political entities first and foremost, and educating our children is an afterthought to their radical agenda,” said Aaron Withe, CEO of the Freedom Foundation.
The National Education Association (NEA) lost 59,972 members from 2020 to 2021 while the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) lost 21,854 members, according to a study by The 74.
“We are only just beginning to see the damaging effects that the prolonged school lockdowns, continued mask mandates, and social isolation the teachers’ unions inflicted on our children,” Withe said.
Although nine out of 10 respondents say schools have become too politicized, and 40 percent say they may leave the job in the next two years, according to AFT data, at least one of the unions is prioritizing political correctness and woke culture over improving dissatisfaction among teachers
“Last week, the NEA focused their national convention on proposals to change the word ‘mother’ and ‘father’ to ‘birthing parent’ and ‘non-birthing parent’, and to impose mandatory masking and COVID vaccines in schools,” Withe told Legal Newsline.
The study specifically found a 34-point or 45% to 79% rise in job dissatisfaction among pre-K-12 members who are teachers since the start of the pandemic.
“It's no wonder the NEA and the AFT both lost more than two percent of their memberships in just the 2020-21 school year,” Withe added. “Good teachers want to educate our children but the union leaders want to politicize and indoctrinate them.”
New York State United Teachers lost 7,595 members compared to the Florida Education Association losing 4,514 members and the 2,440 members that the Michigan Education Association lost.
Despite the state and national membership losses, the teacher's unions still have enough members to remain on sound financial footing.
The NEA gained some $2.4 million in dues last year for a total of $377.4 million so far this year and AFT collected nearly $11 million more in 2021 than in 2020 for a total so far of $196.7 million.