Teachers unions are losing support. Parents and teachers who oppose their politics and efforts to sway schools to implement questionable school policies and curriculum materials have highly affected this max exodus. Now, the latest report has discovered that four of the largest unions have lost some 200,000 members.
A report on Worker Freedom in the State compiled research regarding labor union participation in each state. Sponsored by the Commonwealth Foundation, it concluded that four of the latest national teachers unions have lost over 200,000 members since 2018. This includes the National Education Association (NEA), and the American Federation of Teachers (AFT).
Both the NEA and the AFT have continuously pushed progressive politics. From relentlessly lobbying to extend mask requirements in schools (even after the harmful effects of masking have been studied and published), to campaigning to teach students divisive lessons which have only hindered success rates, these powerful teachers unions have proven what matters most to them. This is in direct contrast to the majority of parents’ wishes, and so teachers who support their communities, and the values driving them, are also leaving these biased organizations.
Mandatory masking has proven to harm children’s physical and mental health on a mass scale. A bevy of short and long-term side effects have been linked to prolonged mask usage. These include developmental delays, headaches, lack of focus, anxiety, depression, and even an increase in suicidal thoughts, but have not swayed these big teachers unions determination to keep children masked and distanced from each other.
As if that wasn’t concerning enough, The AFT has supported and even fought to place critical race theory lessons into classroom curriculum despite the fact that this teaching method has presented no positive results on students’ learning process. The NEA itself has dedicated much effort to supporting the LGBTQ+ lobby and even recently linked educators to sexual instruction sites.
These sites provide members of their teachers union with information on some disturbing behavior. Anal sex, bondage, rimming, fisting, and other inappropriate adult content that present no valuable core classroom lessons for children are included. How this helps teachers instruct kids is unclear.
The majority of parents oppose teaching gender theory in elementary schools and the sexualization of children has become a serious point of contention. Teachers involved in unions that promote questionable materials that are proving to be harmful to young children have been forced to decide where their loyalties remain. Those with traditional values, religious principles, or even a community-based sense of duty to their students and the families they serve have chosen to walk away.
This trend is displaying just how serious politics has become in education. It also shows that while the largest teachers unions in the nation may believe they are powerful enough to determine legal decisions for districts, teachers, and students, they are still funded and backed by individuals who are turning against these practices. With a growing loss of support, funding and influence will diminish and that is projected to highly affect the changing landscape of the public education system after already facing unprecedented challenges.