How much will the teachers’ union spend on politics this year?

It’s no secret that the state teachers’ union and its affiliates are big spenders on politics. During 2022, Education Minnesota’s Political Action Committee (PAC) spent $5.4 million on statewide general elections, according to its Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure report. Over $2.7 million alone went directly to the DFL House and Senate Caucuses and the Minnesota DFL State Central Committee, making Education Minnesota a key player in the DFL’s electoral victory.

Yesterday (Sept. 24), the Campaign Finance & Public Disclosure Board received Education Minnesota’s 2024 PAC spending report through Sept. 17, with total expenditures coming in at just over $1 million. Roughly half of that has gone to DFL political party units — the DFL House and Senate Caucuses and the Minnesota DFL State Central Committee.

With Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz on the Democratic presidential ticket this year, expect big spending from Education Minnesota’s national affiliates — the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).

What about union members who support a different candidate or political party? Or no party at all? And even if all teachers were Democrats and shared the same political ideology as the teachers’ unions, there are hotly contested races and policy debates even within the same party. It’s a blatant “your voice doesn’t matter” to the educators it represents who are of a different political persuasion.

Separate from PAC spending, Education Minnesota spends dues membership money on self-reported “Political Activities and Lobbying.” The most recent available report from Sept. 01, 2022-Aug. 31, 2023 posted this spending at just under $3 million ($2.93 million).

Minnesota teachers who are union members pay dues to their local union, Education Minnesota (state union), and both the NEA and AFT (national unions). For the 2024-25 school year, Minnesota teacher union members will spend around $1,000 on dues, depending on the district.

September is the once-a-year-only opportunity educators get to evaluate the teachers’ union and decide if union membership is right for them. From now until Sept. 30, Minnesota teachers can exercise their right to opt-out of the union, as financially supporting Education Minnesota and its affiliates is no longer required in order to keep teaching. (Prior to 2018, Minnesota educators and other public employees were required to pay either agency fees as non-union members or dues as members if they wanted to work in the public sector.)

If you are a Minnesota educator interested in resigning from the union, make sure to check out these professional educator associations that offer liability coverage, legal protection, and more for a fraction of the cost of dues and without the politics.