Our friends at Overton Insights recently surveyed 1,377 American voters on a range of issues. One question asked whether they support or oppose teachers’ unions: 55% support, 27% oppose, and 18% neither support nor oppose, or have no opinion.
This result reveals an important gap. Many voters support teachers’ unions without understanding how this support translates into political actions and priorities.
When broken out by race, Black voters stand apart from every other group. Their total support is the lowest at 47%, compared with 54% of White, 58% of Hispanic, and 71% of Asian and other voters. Black voters are also the only group in which more respondents strongly oppose teachers’ unions (33%) than strongly support them (24%).
Black voters’ unique stance highlights the difference between supporting teachers as individuals and endorsing union politics. The poll’s question on union support likely reflects general goodwill toward teachers, rather than informed approval of union political behavior. Many voters have personal connections with teachers, but few understand how unions use members’ dues.
As a result, many people misunderstand how union dues are spent. Some believe dues primarily fund essential functions, such as contract negotiations and member representation. However, unions’ annual financial reports, filed with the U.S. Department of Labor, tell a different story. The National Education Association’s (NEA) most recent report shows $454 million in overall income, yet less than 10% is allocated to representing members at their workplaces. In contrast, a significant portion is spent on political activities: $51.7 million at the NEA and over $41 million at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT). This financial shift means less funding goes directly to teachers’ workplace needs, which may weaken member support and public perception.
Nearly all political donations from these unions support a single party. In the 2024 federal elections, 99.9% of the AFT’s and 98.1% of the NEA’s political contributions went to Democratic candidates and party-affiliated groups. As a result, the NEA and AFT effectively function as political organizations for one party. General support for teachers’ unions indirectly funds these activities.
The Black-voter result becomes clearer when considering what union activity actually defends. According to the most recent National Assessment of Educational Progress, also known as the “Nation’s Report Card,” only 6% of eighth-graders in Detroit’s largest public school district read at the “proficient” level. In Cleveland, only 8% of fourth-graders achieve proficiency. Black parents see these outcomes and want better options.
In a 2024 EdChoice survey, 73% of Black respondents favored education savings accounts, which allow families to direct a portion of their child’s public education funding toward tuition, tutoring, or other educational expenses outside the public school assigned by zip code. Black parents support school choice because they believe their children deserve better than a system that prioritizes politics over high-quality education.
Yet, despite the poor outcomes shown by the “Nation’s Report Card” and parents’ desire for better options, teachers’ unions continue to oppose school choice. Each student who leaves a public school for an alternative setting reduces district enrollment, which can erode union membership, lower dues collection, and ultimately diminish the union’s influence. Opposition to school choice is often tied to preserving the unions’ base, even though more than two-thirds of Democrats—the primary beneficiaries of union political support—express preferences aligned with Black parents.
The core issue is that responses to the Overton Insights question conflate support for teachers with support for union political action. If voters were asked directly about unions’ political behavior, the 55% who currently support teachers’ unions would likely respond differently. In this case, support reflects a misunderstanding, not a true endorsement.
