By Reagan Campbell, The Daily Signal | February 20, 2026
Last month, over 6,000 public employees broke free from union fees—a record-setting surge that signals a nationwide shift in teacher and public worker empowerment.
Helping lead the charge is the Freedom Foundation, which helps educators reclaim their paychecks from politically driven union agendas. This year, the group plans to help 60,000 workers leave unions and push legislation in multiple states to curb taxpayer funding for unions.
The Freedom Foundation plans to introduce legislation in Idaho, Florida, Oklahoma, and South Dakota, removing or limiting taxpayer support for unions. This bill would cost unions hundreds of millions of dollars.
The Freedom Foundation also recently filed a lawsuit against the Utah Education Association. According to the group, investigations revealed that union dues were being used for political spending.
The Freedom Foundation says that it is reaching public employees by visiting their homes and offices, sending emails and mail, and running marketing campaigns to encourage more people to leave their unions.
Challenges and Teacher Benefits
According to its website, another organization, the Teacher Freedom Alliance “exists to assist educators in their mission to develop free, moral, and upright American citizens.”
The group currently has 9,000 members. By the end of the year, it hopes to have 20,000. Ryan Walters, CEO of Teacher Freedom Alliance, said their broader goal is to “put power back in the hands of parents, good teachers, and students.”
Walters said, “They told everyone that they weren’t putting money towards a political cause,” calling it a lie and a “crazy left-wing money-funneling operation” that violates Utah’s consumer protection law.
Public employees are leaving their unions at exceptional rates because of the financial burden. Each one pays around $1,100 a year while receiving few benefits.
The trick is actually breaking free of the union. Walters said teachers unions are “like the [Eagles song] ‘Hotel California.’ You check in, but you can never leave.”
Walters explains that leaving a teachers union can be a difficult, drawn-out process because unions put up bureaucratic hurdles and spread misinformation, telling teachers they’ll lose benefits or protections if they opt out. In reality, teachers keep their insurance and retirement benefits, but the longer they remain, the more money is taken from their paychecks to fund political agendas.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon took to X, saying, “The Supreme Court ruled that public employees, including teachers, cannot be required to join or pay a union as a condition of employment.”
She went on to explain, “The point is: the choice is yours! Returning education to the states is about empowering parents, students, and teachers alike – ensuring those closest to the child are making decisions that work for their students, not special interests or bureaucrats sitting in Washington, D.C.”
The Teacher Freedom Alliance website includes a testimonial from Karin, a special education teacher, who writes that the alliance is “empowering and reenergizing teachers to fight for education” and providing resources they “might never have gotten before.”
Moving Forward
This July, the Teacher Freedom Alliance will host a summit in Dallas, Texas, inviting teachers from across the country to join together to discuss curriculum and professional development. “We’re going to talk about classroom discipline, how to get classroom management back in the classroom,” Walters said. “We’re going to talk about how you teach American exceptionalism in the classroom.”
They are even working on a Constitution curriculum for kindergarten through high school to distribute and share with educators.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of the article inaccurately stated that participation in unions by public sector employees was mandatory and incorrectly attributed certain activities of the Freedom Foundation to the Teacher Freedom Alliance.
Reagan Campbell is an intern for The Daily Signal.
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