Senate GOP leader urges review of teachers union charter over alleged leftist agenda

Republican Senator Bill Cassidy, chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, urged lawmakers to reconsider the National Education Association’s federal charter, arguing the union has deviated from its 1906 mission. His HELP Committee report highlights the NEA’s partnership with the Zinn Education Project and Rethinking Schools, which have produced classroom materials that glorify the Black Panther Party and encourage students to role-play queer-liberation activists.

Cassidy points to the union’s financial contributions since 2015, amounting to hundreds of millions directed to left-leaning entities such as the Sixteen Thirty Fund, the Tides Foundation and its own PAC that backs Democratic candidates. The report also references the NEA’s involvement in 2026 May Day protests and a 2025 letter from its Jewish Affairs Caucus reporting antisemitic harassment at the annual assembly. While revoking the charter would be largely symbolic, Cassidy and fellow Republicans claim the union has strayed from its chartered purpose. The NEA and related groups have not offered comment, and the union entered a leadership transition with Princess R. Moss succeeding Becky Pringle.