FOLLOW THE MONEY: WHICH LEGISLATORS BENEFIT MOST FROM OUR UNIONS? – PART II (David Ginsberg)

This article is the second installment in a multi-part series. For the first installment, see here.

Every two weeks, union dues and voluntary COPE donations come out of the paychecks of more than 100,000 active UFT members. Millions upon millions of dollars of our hard earned money go to maintaining, strengthening, and empowering our union each year. In fact, the UFT  “does not use any union dues money for political action,” and while a sizable portion of our dues (over 25%, according to Americans for Fair Treatment) goes to affiliates such as New York State United Teachers (NYSUT) and American Federation of Teachers (AFT), where the distinction between regular union activity and political activity may seem less clear cut, voluntary COPE contributions are the primary source of direct payments from our union organizations to politicians and political groups. Hopefully, the breakdown below of the next 10 largest recipients of our various union funds alleviates some of the mystery as to who benefited most from our contributions from 2022 and 2023. This article is not meant to be an exposé by any means; it is simply meant to help our membership see where our money is going because we deserve to know. We are in no way encouraging members to cancel their union dues and/or COPE donations. Our union needs our support in order to thrive.

It should be noted that some of the dollar amounts may not be exact. These are all minimum figures. All research was done through https://publicreporting.elections.ny.gov. Each union donates money under several names (ex: NYSUT may be listed as New York State United Teachers, NYS United Teachers, NYSUT, etc.), making it extremely difficult to pin down exactly how much they donated. 

It should also be noted that NYSUT (600,000 members) and the AFT (1.7 million members) receive contributions from other teachers’ unions, so all money donated by them does not necessarily come directly from our pockets. However, it is safe to assume that some of it does. All that being said, we hope this article helps you gain some insight as to where our lobbying contributions go. Again, all dollar amounts are for 2022 and 2023, combined.

11. PSC PAC: $49,874.24

Contributions: 2022 NYSUT: $49,874.24

It is unclear if this is a donation to the PSC PAC, or if it is simply the size of PSC’s COPE fund. The Professional Staff Congress (PSC) is a union of 30,000 CUNY faculty and staff members. Although it seems like the PSC has little to do with the UFT, we share more in common than one may think. Both of our unions are members of NYSUT and the AFT. The PSC and UFT are also both members of the Municipal Labor Committee (MLC), which is responsible for negotiating our healthcare. The PSC is fighting against Mulgrew’s healthcare givebacks, whereas the UFT is not, despite Mulgrew’s rhetoric. Words mean nothing without action. 

12. Buffalo Teachers Federation: $40,023.72

Contributions: 2022 NYSUT: $35,389.50  2023 NYSUT: $4,634.22 

It should be noted that it is unclear if this is a donation to the Buffalo Teachers Federation, or if it is simply the size of their COPE fund. The Buffalo Teachers Federation represents 3,800 teachers and fights for the things many of us want – school safety, higher school budgets, member benefits, and the Fix Tier 6 campaign. 

13. Syracuse Teachers Association: $33,783.70

Contributions: 2023 NYSUT: $33,783.70

Once again, it is unclear if this is a donation to the Syracuse Teachers Association, or if it is simply the size of their COPE fund. Syracuse Teachers Association represents 3,100 teachers and fights for their rights. They are affiliated with NYSUT and the AFT. 

14A. New York League of Conservation Voters PAC: $25,000

Contributions: 2022 United Federation of Teachers: $25,000

According to their website, NYLCV is “the only statewide environmental organization in New York that fights for clean water, clean air, renewable energy and open space through political action.” The NYLCV endorses members of the state assembly and state senate, many of whom are in the New York State Democratic Senate Campaign Committee and the New York State Democratic Assembly Campaign Committee. Both groups were mentioned in our prior article and each received over a quarter of a million dollars from NYSUT in 2022 and 2023.

Although this donation may seem odd, a cursory search on NYLCV’s website reveals some connections between the environmental organization and the UFT. This article explains that there is legislation regarding climate change curriculum in public schools. The NYCLV also fights to ensure schools test their water for contamination. It will be interesting to see how the relationship between the UFT and NYLCV moves forward considering they are on different sides of the congestion pricing debate. Interestingly enough, Michael Mulgrew suggested he filed the lawsuit against congestion pricing – on behalf of the UFT, without seeking the opinions of general membership – for environmental reasons. 

14B. New York Women Lead: $25,000

Contributions: 2022 UFT COPE: $25,000

Led by the former president and a former board member of the Eleanor Roosevelt Legacy Committee (see our first article for more information on them), New York Women Lead also aims to assist and elect pro-choice female candidates, most notably Kathy Hochul (read Hochul’s caption). 

While this seems like a mundane, redundant donation on behalf of the UFT, New York Women Lead has recently been at the center of some controversy after accepting substantial sums of money from real estate developers. They have also actively campaigned against pro-choice candidates, a couple of whom are members of the Working Families Party, which received NYSUT contributions totaling $90,000 over the course of 2022-2023. 

14C. Melinda Katz: $25,000

Contributions: 2022 United Federation of Teachers: $10,000  2023 United Federation of Teachers: $15,000

Melinda Katz is the current District Attorney for Queens County. Katz previously served as Queens Borough President and held positions as an NYC Councilwoman (2002-2009), and as a member of the New York State Assembly (1994-1999). Katz has proven to be friendly towards our union and public education in general. In 2008, Katz co-sponsored a resolution to “reform city school planning to better address the problem of overcrowding.”

In 2017, when 3,500+ students, teachers, parents, and alumni signed a petition to remove Interim Acting Principal Rosemarie Jahoda from Townsend Harris H.S., Katz stepped up by writing a letter to former Chancellor Carmen Fariña in support of their cause (source: Chalkbeat). Jahoda was ousted two months later. 

17. Letitia James: $24,000

Contributions: 2022 VOTECOPE (NYSUT): $10,000  2023 VOTECOPE (NYSUT): $14,000 

One of the most notable names on this list, James is the current Attorney General for the State of New York. James and NYSED Commissioner Betty Rosa have made a concerted effort to further diversity, equity, and inclusion requirements (DEI) for public schools (James, Rosa DEI letter). James and Rosa also threatened schools with lawsuits should they make enrollment difficult or impossible for migrant students (source: NY Post).

In 2016, when she served as NYC Public Advocate, James sued the New York City Education Department for the failure of SESIS, a computer system meant to track students with disabilities (source: NY Times). According to the lawsuit, “children (were) deprived of necessary assistance and the city lost out on hundreds of millions of dollars in Medicaid reimbursements” because of the system’s shortcomings. SESIS often deleted student information and was unable to provide data on IEPs. In the meantime, SESIS is still around, although it will supposedly be replaced at some point.

James has also filed several lawsuits against charter schools over the years. In 2014, James pushed a lawsuit to “block the co-location of charter schools with existing district schools” (source: Brian Lehrer Show). Two years later, James filed a civil rights suit against Success Academy for failing to identify and provide adequate services for students with disabilities in an attempt to drive the students from their network of schools (source: NY Post).

Despite James’ lawsuits, former attorney general candidate, Zephyr Teachout, didn’t seem to think James went far enough. Teachout wanted to implement a larger investigation into the hedge fund managers pushing for charter expansion. Teachout, a former special education teacher’s aide, named names of billionaire supporters of charter schools.

18. Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club: $21,000

Contributions: 2022 United Federation of Teachers: $10,000  2023 United Federation of Teachers: $11,000

The Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club is a citywide political club that advocates for LGBTQ rights and endorses candidates who champion their cause. As such, the group routinely supports democratic candidates in local and national elections, many of whom receive sizable contributions from the UFT, AFT, and NYSUT.

19. Monroe County Democratic Committee: $20,000

Contributions: 2022 VOTE COPE (NYSUT): $10,000  2023 Voice of Teachers for Education (NYSUT): $10,000

The name says it all. Located in Rochester, the Monroe County Democratic Committee recruits, trains, and supports local leaders and gets residents involved in participating in local politics. According to their website, the MCDC has 1,800 elected members on 30 City and Town committees, so they have some pull. 

20. Robert Jackson: $19,800

Contributions: 2022 VOTE COPE (NYSUT): $19,800

Senator Jackson represents the 31st District of New York. In 1992, as President of Community School Board 6 in Manhattan, Jackson led a lawsuit against the State of New York in order to get equitable funding for NYC students. Jackson felt NYC students weren’t receiving proportionate funding, and he was right. Despite comprising 39% of the student population of New York State, they were only receiving 32% state education aid (source: Baruch case study). 

In 2008, Jackson, then serving in New York City Council’s 7th District, co-sponsored the same resolution to reform city school planning to address overcrowding as Melinda Katz (see above). 

Most recently, to the benefit of all Tier 6 members, Jackson served as the primary sponsor on a bill that amended the calculation of our Final Average Salary (FAS). Now, our three highest consecutive years of earnings will be used to calculate our FAS instead of our five highest consecutive years. In other words, future retirees can expect a little bit more money when they receive their pensions.

Furthermore, Jackson is an advocate for public schools. In 2022, pro-charter super PAC, New Yorkers for a Balanced Albany, spent nearly $100,000 in an effort to defeat Jackson in his re-election bid. Jackson still managed to trounce his opponent, Angel Vasquez, “a former teacher, who later worked as a deputy political director for the United Federation of Teachers.”

More articles will be forthcoming naming other large recipients of our unions’ lobbying efforts.

-By David Ginsberg