Why Are America’s Teachers Unions Backing the ‘No Kings’ Protests?

ORLANDO, Florida—The American Federation of Teachers and the National Education Association are supporting the “No Kings” protests this weekend, and teachers union critics explained why at the Moms for Liberty National Summit Friday.

“To be clear about what the teachers unions do, you guys see the ‘No Kings’ protests going on—did you know that the NEA and the AFT are funding those?” Ryan Walters, former Oklahoma State superintendent and CEO of the Teacher Freedom Alliance, said on stage at the Moms for Liberty summit. “They are funding to fight President [Donald] Trump.”

Meanwhile, he said, “I can’t applaud Trump enough” for aiming to get rid of the federal Department of Education.

Walters and his fellow panelists explained that the teachers unions have used their position of influence to push radical leftist ideologies such as critical race theory—which teaches that America is institutionally racist—and transgender ideology, and they oppose efforts to reform education that would return it to the basics of reading, writing, and arithmetic.

The teachers unions defend critical race theory and transgender ideology as efforts that promote diversity and inclusion.

The American Federation of Teachers appears as a partner of the “No Kings” protests Saturday. Organizers claim to have 2,400 protests scheduled across the country. The National Education Association’s advocacy website encourages people to participate in “No Kings Day” protests, to “join communities across the nation to make clear to President Trump that America has no kings and the power belongs to the people.”

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott plans to deploy the National Guard in response to what he called a “planned Antifa demonstration.” Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy warned that agitators with Antifa may be embedding themselves in the protests.

Neither the American Federation of Teachers nor the National Education Association immediately responded to The Daily Signal’s request for comment about funding the protests.

Aaron White, CEO of the Freedom Foundation, explained at the Moms for Liberty National Summit that both unions spend large amounts of money on political activism, despite that their ostensible purpose is to represent teachers.

“That money is far less significant in representing teachers than it is in their political agenda,” he said. White argued that much of the money goes “to radical liberal Democrats who will go in and raise taxes,” while “the rest of it they spend on lavish salaries and benefits packages.”

According to federal records, between July 1, 2022, and June 30, 2023, the American Federation of Teachers spent only 27.4% of its funds on “representational activities” such as negotiating for better salaries and benefits for member teachers. It spent 13.8% of its funds—$46.9 million—on political activities and another 2.1% on “contributions, gifts, and grants,” much of which went to left-leaning activist groups. Another 19.7% went to overhead, administration, and employee benefits.

During the same period, the National Education Association spent only 19% of its members’ dues on “representational activities” while it spent 4.6%—$2.9 million—on political activities and another 2.8% on political contributions. Much of the union’s money went to overhead, union administration, and benefits (34%).

These unions form part of the apparatus supporting left-leaning activist groups that influenced policy in the Biden administration.

Corey DeAngelis, a school choice advocate and senior fellow at the American Culture Project, noted that the National Education Association’s “Teacher of the Year” said in July that “I realized how deeply political our profession had always been.”

“She said that her job as a teacher, of all things, is deeply political and always has been,” DeAngelis noted. “If that’s not free advertising for homeschooling, I don’t know what is.”

“There’s no bigger enemy to parents, there’s no bigger enemy to good teachers, and there’s no bigger enemies to this country than the teachers union,” Walters, head of the Teachers Freedom Alliance, said. “The teachers union has weaponized its money and its power to try to turn our schools into Marxist indoctrination centers.”

“The Teachers Freedom Alliance says to teachers, ‘We not only want you to leave [the union], we’ve got your back. Go make the classrooms great again,'” he added.

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