Top teachers union under fire as lawmakers push to strip union of unique federal charter: 'Lost their way'

With the National Education Association being thrust into the spotlight after increasing its public opposition against the Trump administration and having been accused of financially backing far-left agenda items, two Republicans are taking steps to revoke its federal charter. 

The National Education Association holds a rare distinction in Washington, D.C., as the only labor union granted a federal charter, a status it received from Congress in 1906, and critics have argued that the functions of the NEA then and now are much different. 

Republican Reps. Buddy Carter and Mary Miller have been vocal critics of the NEA in recent years and are calling for that charter to be revoked, a move that Carter tells Fox News Digital would be "significant" and "carries with it a lot of clout."

"Let's face it, the NEA is nothing more than a liberal political organization masquerading as a teachers union," Carter added. "Remember in 1906, Congress gave them this charter to elevate the profession. They're not elevating the profession right now."

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Becky Pringle, the president of the largest teachers union in the U.S., recently spoke at a virtual event scheduled for Wednesday titled "Roadmap to Political Revolution," hosted by the Sunrise Movement. (Getty Images)

The NEA has been actively opposing President Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigration, labeling him a "dictator" and organizing protests nationwide against ICE. 

"You only have to look at their actions here recently to see that they have turned into a liberal political organization," Carter told Fox News Digital. "Calling President Trump's policies fascism, calling for allowing biological men to participate and grow sports, going against the Anti-Defamation League, which is trying to stamp out anti-Semitism. All the policies that they're enacting, 98% of their donations are going to Democrats now, and the liberal Democrats. And then, of course, what they've done in Minneapolis and in Minnesota — all of those actions lead us to believe that they should be, that their charter should be pulled."

Fox News Digital has extensively reported on criticisms of the NEA in recent months, including in November when a federal labor filing showed the organization sent millions to far-left causes. Last month, an NEA whistleblower told Fox News Digital the organization operates like a "cult" and views conservatives as the "enemy." 

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Rep. Mary Miller, R-Ill., signs a document at her desk in support of her new education legislation, the Promoting Classical Learning Act. (Courtesy of Rep. Mary Miller)

"They’ve lost their way. They are not about educating the kids," Miller told Fox News Digital. "This is a social engineering program. That’s what the NEA has become."

"For a long time, I've been calling out the NEA as being a disastrous organization," added Miller, who has cosponsored legislation to remove the NEA’s federal charter.

"I think they have done immeasurable damage to our country in light of losing the focus of educating our children, and they've gotten into social engineering and completely political."

While the NEA's actions have been gathering increased scrutiny in recent months, Miller told Fox News Digital her objections to the NEA go back decades. 

"Back in the 90s, I got a hold of the NEA's resolutions from their annual convention, and I was horrified when I saw those. I was actually a teacher. After that, I had my alarm bells up. I ended up home educating my children because of the curriculum, and the NEA is definitely trying to drive that curriculum."

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GOP Rep. Buddy Carter attends a House Energy and Commerce Environment Subcommittee hearing. (Tom Williams/CQ Roll Call via Getty Images)

Miller continued, "But instead of pushing the basics in education — so our children are literate, so that they can do math and they know our history, they understand our civics, they are educated in science, and basic education, what American parents want — they've gotten into pushing DEI, weird sexual stuff, they don't want parents involved. They're anti homeschooling. They've called for boycotts of corporations they felt weren't pushing their cause. They've gone off onto things like calling for the statehood of District of Columbia. I mean, so many things that have nothing to do with education. They lost their way and that's why I want their charter revoked."

If Miller’s legislation were to pass through Congress, she told Fox News Digital that it would "send a strong message that people and lawmakers are rising up to the NEA."

Fox News Digital reached out to the NEA for comment.