Teachers’ Union Dues: From Shasta Paychecks to a $1 Billion Democrat Slush Fund
- Rex Ballard
- Apr 30
- 3 min read
Shasta County teachers, parents, and taxpayers—pay close attention. If you’ve ever assumed your local educators’ union dues were going straight to better classrooms, higher salaries, or stronger contracts for the people actually teaching our kids, a bombshell new report says think again.
According to a detailed investigation by Defending Education, the National Education Association (NEA) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT) have quietly siphoned more than $669 million in member dues and PAC money into Democratic campaigns, left-wing nonprofits, and partisan political outfits since August 2015. When you add in the spending by state and local affiliates—like California’s powerful California Teachers Association (CTA), which feeds directly into the NEA machine—the grand total tops $1 billion.
That’s your money. Money taken from teachers’ paychecks across Shasta County and the North State. Money that could have gone to smaller class sizes, better supplies, or actual raises. Instead, it’s funding a political machine that has almost nothing to do with education.
The numbers don’t lie. The State Engagement Fund, a key Democratic infrastructure group, received over $60.5 million. The For Our Future Action Fund got nearly $45 million. Senate Majority PAC and House Majority PAC pulled in tens of millions more. The unions even dumped $19.3 million into the Strategic Victory Fund, created specifically to defeat Donald Trump in 2020. Direct contributions to Democratic Party entities at every level exceeded $85 million—not counting individual candidate checks.
And it doesn’t stop at straight politics. The unions funneled hundreds of thousands to ideological causes: $700,000 to Media Matters, millions to dark-money outfits like the Sixteen Thirty Fund, $350,000 to Planned Parenthood Votes, and cash to groups pushing race theory, gender activism, and climate alarmism. They even cut a check to race theorist Ibram X. Kendi and supported the Trevor Project.
Locally in California:
In Ohio, one teachers’ association gave Democrats $2.9 million and Republicans just $23,000—a 125-to-1 ratio. Chicago Teachers Union records show zero dollars to the Illinois Republican Party. Here in California, the CTA has long been one of the NEA’s biggest players, pouring millions into state Democratic campaigns, ballot measures, and Sacramento power plays that shape everything from curriculum to school funding formulas that hit Shasta County districts hard.
Rhyen Staley of Defending Education nailed it:
“Show me your budget and I will show you what you value; and what the teachers unions value is political power and advancing a left-wing, social justice agenda. Gone are the days of unions just advocating for higher wages, better working conditions, and good health insurance; they are a political machine focused on fomenting a political revolution.”
Nicole Neily, president of Defending Education, added:
“Educators are victims of a bait-and-switch: instead of their dues going to advocate for increased pay or improved working environments, they’re being spent advancing a hard-left political agenda, underwriting causes such as climate change, gender activism, and abortion.”
Meanwhile, the unions have spent millions fighting school choice programs in states like Nebraska, Kentucky, and Colorado—programs that could give Shasta families more options and force public schools to compete on results instead of relying on captive funding.
Watch the story unfold
This isn’t about supporting teachers. It’s about turning mandatory dues into a partisan war chest while North State classrooms still struggle with reading scores, chronic absenteeism, and politicized curricula.
Shasta parents and teachers deserve better. If your dues are being hijacked to bankroll the very politicians and causes that many in our community oppose, it’s time to demand transparency and accountability from local union chapters and the CTA. Our kids’ futures—not the next Democratic super PAC—should come first.
The full Defending Education report is public. Read it. Share it. And start asking the hard questions at your next school board meeting. Because in Shasta County, “unfiltered” means following the money—no matter where it leads.
