A longtime Del Norte County educator and former local school board trustee is speaking out against the direction of the nation’s largest teachers unions, saying they have shifted their focus away from classroom instruction and toward political power.
Michael Greer, a retired special education teacher who spent 26 years as a member of the California Teachers Association (CTA) and the National Education Association (NEA), told Fox News Digital that the unions he once served have changed dramatically since he began his career. Greer previously served as a local CTA chapter president and sat on the Del Norte County Unified School District Board of Trustees. He now chairs the Del Norte County Republican Party.
“It’s all about power,” Greer said. “In California, the California Teachers Association is the most powerful lobbying group in the state, which also transfers into the national union.”
Greer said that when he first became a union president, the focus was on helping teachers improve their craft. “When I first became a union president, it was about the teachers. We were focused on helping educators become better at what they do — helping them teach reading, math, and science,” he said. He recalled union-sponsored conferences that once featured hands-on training teachers could bring back to their classrooms. “We took those programs back and taught our colleagues how to implement them. That has changed completely.”
Union Spending Under Scrutiny
Greer’s comments come as independent watchdogs have published figures on union political spending. The North American Values Institute found that the NEA spent at least $547 million on political activity and advocacy between fiscal years 2016 and 2025, including $458.9 million in political and lobbying expenditures and $88.2 million in contributions to progressive organizations. Over the same period, the American Federation of Teachers reported $383.2 million in political activity and lobbying, according to the same analysis.
A separate report from Parents Defending Education found that national teachers unions have directed more than $660 million to left-leaning political groups and causes since 2015. Including state and local affiliates, total union political spending exceeds $1 billion, the report found. Recipients identified in that report include Democratic-aligned political action committees such as the Senate Majority PAC and House Majority PAC, as well as progressive groups including the State Engagement Fund, which received more than $60 million, and the For Our Future Action Fund, which received more than $40 million.
Greer said this spending has reshaped what unions now expect of their members. “What it has changed to is teaching teachers how to become union members, how to go on strike, and how to gain social justice power,” he said. “We got away from teaching teachers how to teach and moved toward teaching them how to change the social system.”
Academic Performance Still Lagging
The shift toward political activity has come as student achievement has continued to slide nationally. Federal education data shows that only about three in 10 students are proficient in math and reading, despite more than $3 trillion in federal spending on education since the U.S. Department of Education was established in 1979.
Greer did note that the CTA maintains some bipartisan practices at the state level, including covering travel costs for teachers attending political party conventions regardless of affiliation. “The CTA actually funds teachers to attend both the state Republican and Democratic conventions,” he said. “They will cover up to $800 for hotel and transportation, so teachers can participate.”
Still, Greer said his willingness to criticize the union’s priorities publicly has made him an outlier within the organization. “That’s why I’m known as one of the ‘bad boys’ in California education,” he said. “I’ve spoken out because they aren’t helping teachers on the ground floor where instruction actually happens — they are helping themselves gain the power to alter laws and regulations.”
Drawing on his time as a school board member and as an NEA-CTA delegate at national conferences, Greer said the shift has been clear to him firsthand. “They are no longer focused on children and what they are learning,” he said. “It’s about what teachers can do for political power, and that’s where my problem lies as I watch my union dues being spent.”
Fox News Digital reported that it reached out to the NEA and the CTA for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
