How much does the union spend representing teachers?

Minnesota played a key role in advancing the idea of collective bargaining for public school teachers in the United States. While the goals and philosophical views of the early teacher associations varied in significant ways, the idea generally was to improve the pay and working conditions for teachers and to raise the standards of the teaching profession.

Unfortunately, teachers’ unions have become distracted with prioritizing far-ranging political activism that deviates from unions’ primary mission of supporting and advocating on behalf of teachers.

In fact, a review of Education Minnesota’s most recently filed LM-2 form with the U.S. Department of Labor shows that only a quarter (25.5 percent) of the state teachers’ union spending was on representing members. The union self-reports it spent $11,463,331 on “representational activities” from Sept. 1, 2023 through Aug. 31, 2024, with the rest of the cash disbursements primarily going toward overhead, administration, benefits, and political activities and lobbying. (When calculating the percentage spent on representational activities, I isolated out the dollars that the state union receives to send to its affiliates.)

The U.S. Department of Labor defines “representational activities” as direct and indirect disbursements “associated with preparation for, and participation in, the negotiation of collective bargaining agreements and the administration and enforcement of the agreements made by the labor organization.”

Minnesota teachers pay around $1,000 in dues — $537 go to the state teachers’ union, about $258 go to the two national unions (the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers), and the rest goes to the local teachers’ union.

Teacher union membership is down about four percent from five years ago, when educators were required to financially support the union as a condition of employment. That changed in summer 2018 when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Janus v. AFSCME, freeing thousands of Minnesota educators from forced payments to the teachers’ union in order to keep their jobs. Education Support Professional (ESP) membership is down nearly nine percent over that same time period, and student teacher membership is down over 32 percent. Total union membership is down more than nine percent.

Minnesota educators have other options than the teachers’ union. While the annual window for opting out and ceasing to pay dues has passed (it’s open Sept. 1-30), email [email protected] for a reminder to opt out when September 2025 approaches. Liability insurance is available through national professional educator associations for a fraction of the cost of union membership.