Teacher unions are the real ‘dark money’ players in school board races

My father served for more than a decade on the school board in the small town where I grew up. I can tell you firsthand that there always have been contentious issues locally — over teacher pay, property taxes, where funding goes, curriculum issues, and more.

But the internet was in its infancy when I was a kid and few of these issues ever received national attention. Today it’s another story. COVID-19 restrictions, school shutdowns, vaccine mandates, critical race theory, segregating students by race — these issues and others have brought a backlash from some parents who are frustrated with their school districts. After feeling like nobody was listening, some are taking the next step and running for seats on their school boards to enforce change.

One such group getting involved is “Moms for Liberty.” The conservative group sprang up in Florida and now claims 195 chapters in 37 states with almost 100,000 members.

They’ve been portrayed unflatteringly in much of the mainstream media. The Washington Post says they are hoping to take advantage of “brawlish … cultural divisions.” Another Post article says parents are “seeking control over education” and “taking over school boards.” Yet another article in the Post (see a pattern?) says these are “anti-woke” school board victories that have turned “usually nonpartisan races” into something “contentious.” A fourth Washington Post article agrees, writing that this could “deliver chilling effect[s] on racial equity efforts.”

It’s not just the Post. The New York Times says these fights are part of “the conservative school board strategy.” USA Today documented the many critics of Moms for Liberty. Salon says they want to “demolish public school.” Media Matters says these are front groups “facilitating the book-banning process.” NBC worries that they are “taking over school boards.”

The media concern over individuals running for school board and backed by political interests is bizarre, considering there long have been political organizations funding and electing school board members: public-sector labor unions.

Left-wing unions have been and continue to be the major force affecting school board elections. The National Education Association (NEA) urges its members to “get out the vote for pro-public education candidates” because they are involved in setting salaries and approving contracts.

The teachers’ union in Michigan, the Michigan Education Association (MEA), is endorsing nearly 200 candidates across the state. The MEA’s state filings show that it spent tens of thousands of dollars on school board races in 2020. The union gave more than $1,000 each to multiple candidates for open seats on school boards in Plymouth-Canton, Ann Arbor, Oak Park and Dearborn Heights. It also spent big in Walled Lake, Farmington Hills, Allen Park and elsewhere. The union surely is doing so again this year. We’ll know how much they’re spending toward the end of the year when filings come due.

In school board races, which typically feature low spending, even a few hundred dollars raised goes a long way. Indeed, 75 percent of the candidates receiving money from the Michigan union in 2020 won their races — including a clean sweep of all four spots in the Detroit suburbs of Plymouth-Canton. The union apparently is so flush with money that it could afford to spend $500 on a write-in candidate in McBain, the eighth-smallest city in Michigan (the candidate was among the rare union-backed losers). 

This is the public employee union problem: 1) Government unions fund and campaign for school board members and other politicians; 2) those same politicians then support generous pay and benefits, and force people to pay dues and fees to unions, ensuring that 3) a portion of the money is routed back to the public employee union to start the cycle again.

Unsurprisingly, the nation’s largest union says that the parents now getting involved are doing so because of “manufactured outrage perpetuated by dark money networks,” which is a “danger to educators.”

That’s absurd. For decades, far-left education unions have endorsed, funded, knocked on doors for and been elected as school board members. The only difference today is that people are finally pushing back from the other side.

Jarrett Skorup is the senior director of marketing and communications at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a research and educational institute headquartered in Midland, Mich. Follow him on Twitter @JarrettSkorup.