Bill Would Block Taxpayer Funding of Teachers Unions

U.S. taxpayers’ money would not help finance teachers unions if a bill introduced this week by Rep. Ronny Jackson, R-Texas, wins final passage in Congress.

“Corrupt teachers unions sold out our kids when they lined Democrat politicians’ pockets with campaign contributions to keep students out of the classroom, and later to force masking, despite clear evidence that these decisions were harmful to kids’ educational and developmental growth,” Jackson said in a prepared statement.  

Teachers unions have “pushed a radical and inappropriate curriculum which seeks to indoctrinate our students with a woke, racist, and anti-American worldview,” the Texas Republican said, adding that limiting funding for these unions is in the best interest of parents and their children. 

Jackson added: 

Just when we thought corrupt teachers unions could not get worse, they pressed the Biden administration to investigate parents who voice disagreement with their decisions as domestic terrorists. The very people who were supposed to have our kids’ best interest at heart have repeatedly betrayed them. It’s time we restore parents’ voices, prohibit corrupt teachers unions from using your tax dollars to advance their radical agenda, and send them a clear message: LEAVE OUR KIDS ALONE! 

Jackson’s bill, introduced Wednesday and only two pages long, states: “No federal funds may be provided to a labor organization, the members of which are education professionals.” 

Reps. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas; Troy Nehls, R-Texas; Debbie Lesko, R-Ariz.; and Mary Miller, R-Ill., are co-sponsors of the bill. 

“Teachers unions are PACs siphoning government money to endorse politicians and fund political activism in the classroom,” Nicole Solas, a mother who is a senior fellow at the Independent Women’s Forum, told The Daily Signal in an email Friday.  

Jackson’s bill, Solas said, “cuts off one lifeline to an institutional monolith that has imprisoned students in failing schools and bullied teachers and parents using decades’ worth of unconstitutionally obtained union dues.” 

Solas has a unique perspective on teachers unions after being taken to court by America’s largest teachers union.  

The Rhone Island affiliate of the National Education Association sued Solas last year after she filed more than 200 open records requests with her local public school district.

The teachers union later sought to dismiss the suit, Solas said, but the judge denied the motion because, in her words, union leaders “don’t get to use litigation to harass me and then simply dismiss the lawsuit when they’re done harassing me.” 

Solas’ case is still in court.  

“It’s about time an elected representative takes action to dismantle a real oppressive institution in America—the teachers unions,” Solas said of Jackson’s bill. “By defunding teachers unions, we can fund students, not systems.” 

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