THE DAILY BS: HOW MUCH CAN YOU HANDLE?

SPARE ME THE BS (I’ve got things to do).

• Education watchdog NAVI says the NEA and AFT spent a combined $930.2 million on politics, lobbying and advocacy between fiscal 2016 and 2025.
• NAVI identified $80.2 million from the NEA through three intermediary groups and further spending on an international union federation and ballot campaigns.
• The NEA approved a $10 dues increase for ballot and media work, projected to generate over $20 million annually; the unions had not commented to Fox News by publication.

LAY IT ON ME (I’ve got time).

America’s two biggest teachers unions appear to have a very expensive extracurricular activity: political advocacy. A new watchdog study puts their combined spending on politics, lobbying and advocacy at $930.2 million across ten fiscal years.

Fox News reported the figures Wednesday based on an analysis by the North American Values Institute, or NAVI, of National Education Association and American Federation of Teachers disclosures from fiscal 2016 through 2025.

The watchdog assigns at least $547 million to the NEA: approximately $458.9 million reported as political activity and lobbying, plus $88.2 million it characterized as direct support for advocacy groups. The AFT, headed by Randi Weingarten, reported another $383.2 million in political and lobbying spending.

The total is striking, but the destinations reveal more about how these institutions operate. NAVI says the NEA directed $80.2 million to three political intermediaries: the State Engagement Fund, Strategic Victory Fund and State Victory Fund LLC. Tracking what ultimately happened after those transfers may take teachers more homework than their students expect.

The watchdog counted approximately $116.9 million to the NEA Advocacy Fund, the union’s political committee. It also identified $30.1 million in NEA payments to Education International, a global federation of education unions.

NAVI pointed to the international federation’s membership, including the General Union of Palestinian Teachers. Payments to the federation, of course, are not evidence that each affiliate received a direct payment, but they illustrate the scope of the national union’s institutional activities.

The watchdog separately reported that NEA delegates approved a $10 dues increase to finance ballot-measure and media operations, with projected annual proceeds above $20 million.

AFT itemized political payments studied by NAVI included $123.35 million to outside political organizations and committees, nearly $180 million to affiliates and internal accounts, and approximately $28.6 million to consultants and vendors.

The union’s activity also extended into state ballot and judicial campaigns. NAVI cited $1 million toward an Ohio redistricting measure, $1 million concerning Oregon Measure 97, $1 million involving California Proposition 15 and more than $1 million across Wisconsin Supreme Court election efforts.

Teachers unions contend that lobbying is inseparable from school funding, teacher pay, working conditions and labor rights. Elected officials do, after all, make decisions that affect classrooms. The question raised by the new breakdown is how much of the spending also serves broader electoral agendas.

Earlier investigations from Defending Education and the Commonwealth Foundation found extensive political spending by education and other public-sector unions, but used different organizations, periods and methodologies. Their totals should not simply be added to NAVI’s figure.

Neither union responded to Fox News before publication. Without NAVI’s complete dataset independently audited, the $930.2 million and its component categories remain the watchdog’s calculations.

Still, the findings provide a substantial set of figures for union members to examine alongside their unions’ complaints about teachers’ compensation. A dollar sent to a political intermediary is a dollar worth asking about, especially when the people paying dues don’t know the final destination.

DBS WIRE SOURCES (I’ve got all day).

• Fox News — NAVI findings
• Defending Education — Separate union spending investigation
• Commonwealth Foundation — Public-sector union spending
• National Education Association — Teacher compensation report