The national teachers unions, the National Education Association (NEA) and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT), establish political and ideological agendas during their annual summer conventions. Everyone loves the party game “Two Truths and a Lie.” Can you identify which of the three following statements about teachers unions’ summer conventions is a lie?

A. The NEA and AFT prioritize political power over real solutions for students and teachers.

B. Teachers unions represent teachers.

C. Delegates to the summer events voted or will vote on dozens of new business items and resolutions.

Let’s take these statements one at a time: 

A. TRUTH. Both the NEA and AFT are using their summer gatherings to mobilize politically. At the NEA convention in Portland, Oregon, President Becky Pringle specifically went after “Donald Trump and his billionaire buddies” and called Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion “sacred values.” The AFT convention will run later this week and items on its agenda include breakout sessions such as “Active Allyship for LGBTQIA+ Educators and Students,” “Addressing Racial Harm: Strategies for Reducing Discipline Disparities in Schools,” “Defending Immigrant Students Against Deportation,” and “Surviving and Thriving: Leadership and Organizing amid Anti-Union Attacks.”

Rather than addressing any of the real issues facing classroom teachers, such as student discipline, the union conferences are rehashing progressive politics and dedicating themselves to partisanship over the well-being of students.

B. LIE. The Public Education unit is one of six divisions within AFT (others include AFT Nurses and Health Professionals and AFT Higher Education). The AFT even states that it is “the second-largest nurses union and the fastest growing healthcare union in the nation.” In other words, teachers are only a small percentage of the AFT’s 1.8 million members, and the AFT as a group has many competing priorities that have nothing to do with American students or education.

C. TRUTH. While the AFT’s plan for the week remains to be seen, the NEA approved initiatives including $3,500 to “defend democracy against Trump’s embrace of fascism by using the term facism [sic] in NEA materials to correctly characterize Donald Trump’s program and actions,” ““Support for and participation in the mass democratic movement against Trump’s authoritarianism and violations of human rights,” and support for students’ “right to dissent and organize against Trump’s policies, including attacks against LGBTQ+ students, and against racism,” among others.

Note: These resolutions were voted on behind closed doors and are only available to the public—despite ostensibly being in service of public education—because they were leaked.

Bottom Line:

Teachers unions do not prioritize the urgent needs of the nation’s educators.