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, and the AFT is meeting this week. 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 discuss political issues that have nothing to do with education.

B. Teachers unions fail to protect teachers.

C. There are no alternatives to unions for teachers.

Let’s take these statements one at a time: 

A. TRUTH. This year, the AFT, according to leaked documents, will be voting on resolutions to put “an end to Israel’s bombing and invasion of Lebanon” and for “the United States and Israel to end the use of military force against Iran.” Last year, 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.” Currently, a New Jersey teacher is suing her union for sending $40 million—which includes her dues—to a PAC supporting the former union leader’s gubernatorial run.

B. TRUTH. Teachers unions don’t actually protect teachers. Take John Grande, a teacher in Connecticut, who won a lawsuit against his union for failing to protect him when his school district launched an investigation against him for opposing a professional DEI training. Or Isaac Newman, a teacher in California, who won a discrimination lawsuit against his union for creating a racially segregated board position. Or the countless teachers whose classrooms have descended into chaos in the face of bureaucratic anti-discipline mandates. Unions claim to care about teachers, but in reality do very little to help them when a teacher’s rights conflict with the union’s ideology.

C. LIE. Karin Majewski, a teacher profiled by IW Features for leaving her union, has created a website showing all the ways teachers can opt out of their union. That doesn’t mean teachers have to forgo protection either: There are several alternatives to unions—professional organizations that protect teachers with liability insurance and legal assistance without the NEA/AFT politics and bureaucracy—in all 50 states that Majewski’s website lists.

Bottom Line:

Teachers unions do not prioritize the urgent needs of the nation’s educators and should not be allowed to run roughshod over the nation’s schools.