Teachers unions claim they look out for the best interests of students.
But they’re not playing it straight with the public.
And a whistleblower revealed one scary fact that teachers unions are hiding.
NEA insider exposes toxic cult culture
A National Education Association employee just blew the whistle on what really goes on inside America’s largest teachers union.
The unnamed employee told Fox News Digital that the NEA operates like a cult where conservative staff members keep quiet or risk facing retaliation.
“It’s a very liberal place, there’s only a handful of conservatives that work at NEA, and if you are, it’s like you just don’t say anything, because it’s a very toxic environment if you do say something,” the whistleblower said.
Weekly newsletters blast Trump as a fascist to state affiliates.
Mandatory staff meetings focus on social justice and White supremacy that feel more like brainwashing sessions.
“It’s a cult. It’s 100% a cult and if you don’t have their mindset, you’re the enemy,” the whistleblower said.
NEA employees were sobbing behind closed doors the day after Trump routed Kamala Harris.
“Everybody in the office had their doors closed. They were crying. It was a whole thing. It was wild, grown-ass people crying over an election,” the insider revealed.
NEA President Becky Pringle leads an organization with over 3 million members and a $374 million annual budget.
But the whistleblower says the union leadership doesn’t care about students.
“They don’t care about the students, they care about pushing these leftist, liberal Democrat people so that they can get more money and just fund all these stupid initiatives,” the whistleblower explained.
Texas union defends teachers who celebrated Kirk assassination
The whistleblower’s revelations came as teachers unions revealed exactly who they protect following Charlie Kirk’s assassination on September 10, 2025.
Teachers across Texas posted vile content celebrating Kirk’s murder.
One Houston-area teacher said “karma played a role” in Kirk’s death.
San Antonio teachers mocked the outrage over Kirk’s assassination while criticizing his views on immigration.
The Texas Education Agency launched investigations into over 350 teachers who posted disgusting comments.
Texas AFT President Zeph Capo and national AFT President Randi Weingarten filed a lawsuit defending those teachers.
They called the investigations a “wave of retaliation” and a “witch hunt.”
The union sued to stop Texas from holding teachers accountable for celebrating political violence.
“State leaders have decided to score a few cheap points, and it was worth the disciplinary actions and the doxxing and the death threats targeted at Texas teachers,” Capo whined.
Florida’s education commissioner also investigated teachers who celebrated Kirk’s death.
These are the people teachers unions protect while claiming they care about children.
Teachers unions caught lying about dues
Teachers unions aren’t just defending those who celebrated Kirk’s murder.
They’re lying to their own members about where their dues go.
A Utah teacher and the Freedom Foundation filed a lawsuit against the Utah Education Association for falsely claiming that member dues are never used for political activities.
Cole Kelley, a 29-year teacher and Republican member of the Utah State Board of Education, had seen enough.
“I think that it’s time for the UEA to tell the teachers in Utah the truth about what they do, what they represent, what they stand for, what they’re advocating for,” Kelley said.
The UEA made false statements on its website and social media claiming member dues aren’t used for politics.
When confronted about the lie, the union quietly changed its statement to say dues aren’t used for political parties or candidates.
That’s still false.
The NEA funnels millions from teacher dues to left-wing political organizations.
Federal labor filings show the NEA contributed $1.4 million to the 2024 Democrat National Convention host committee, gave $150,000 to pro-abortion Emily’s List, and spent nearly $1.1 million supporting the Democrat Governors Association.
The NEA also pumped almost $60,000 into advertisements backing Kamala Harris.
“Unbeknownst to most teachers, the vast majority of teachers unions’ political spending is financed with member dues,” said Maxford Nelsen, the Freedom Foundation’s director of research and government affairs.
Unions spend twice as much on politics as teachers
The NEA spent $66 million on political activities and lobbying compared to just $33 million on representing members in its 2020-2021 fiscal year.
That’s $2 spent on politics for every $1 spent on helping teachers.
Chicago Teachers Union doubled its political spending in 2025 to a record $4.2 million, with most going to failed school board candidates.
Union president Stacy Davis Gates gave herself a 4% raise to $194,955 despite the union’s political disasters.
She pulls in over $273,000 total when you count her compensation from the Illinois Federation of Teachers.
CTU employs more than 50 people making six figures while spending less than 18% of its budget on representing teachers.
The two largest teachers unions have funneled over $228 million to left-wing organizations since 2015, including the Sixteen Thirty Fund, Tides Foundation network, and Future Forward super PAC that supported Kamala Harris.
That same toxic culture produced teachers who celebrated Charlie Kirk’s assassination and union leaders who rushed to defend them.
These people control what gets taught in America’s government schools.
They spend teachers’ money propping up the radical Left while kids can’t read or do basic math.
And when a young conservative leader gets murdered, union-protected teachers cheer.
Teachers across the country are waking up to what their dues are funding.
The lawsuits exposing this corruption and the whistleblowers speaking out are just the beginning of the reckoning teachers unions have coming.
Sources:
- Peter D’Abrosca, “Campus Radicals: Union member tell-all, Dems back to DEI ways, more violent leftist threats on campus,” Fox News, January 24, 2026.
- Peter D’Abrosca, “NEA insider blows whistle on ‘toxic’ culture and far-left politics inside teachers union: ‘It’s a cult’,” Fox News, January 23, 2026.
- Peter D’Abrosca, “School board member’s explosive lawsuit claims teachers union lied about funneling money to political groups,” Fox News, January 23, 2026.
- Rhyen Staley, “DivertED: Teachers’ unions have spent over $220+ million in dues on far-left causes,” Defending Education, September 29, 2025.
- John Kass, “Record high: Chicago Teachers Union 2X political spending,” Illinois Policy, October 3, 2025.
- Sarah D. Sparks, “Teachers’ Union Sues Texas for Probing Teachers’ Charlie Kirk Posts,” Education Week, January 6, 2026.
- Associated Press, “Texas cracked down on teachers for posts about Charlie Kirk, union lawsuit says,” ABC News, January 7, 2026.
