The Oregon Education Association has long claimed to speak for educators, students and public schools. But newly reported internal documents raise a fair question for Oregon teachers and education employees: Is OEA primarily focused on representing the workers who fund it or on growing its own political power?

According to reporting from Fox News and a new investigation from Defending Education, OEA’s own internal documents show the union has a goal of becoming the largest political action committee in Oregon by the fall of 2026. That is not a small ambition, and it does not appear to be a side project. It is a revealing statement of priorities from the state’s largest teachers union, especially at a time when the same documents reportedly acknowledge years of projected budget deficits dating back to the 2018-19 fiscal year.

For Oregon educators, that should matter. Teachers and school employees see union dues taken from their paychecks month after month, often with very little transparency about where that money ultimately goes.

Many workers joined the union, or remained in it, because they were told it existed to represent them at work, bargain contracts and help protect them on the job. Those are the issues most educators think about when they hear the word “union.”

But the documents reviewed by Fox News and Defending Education suggest OEA is quietly focused on something much larger and much more political. Defending Education’s investigation reports that OEA and its PAC have spent significant sums on politics, ballot measures, staff compensation and related expenses in recent years.

The report also points to OEA’s proposed $20 annual per-member assessment for a “Public School Funding Campaign,” which, based on OEA’s membership size, could generate more than $800,000 per year.

For an individual teacher, $20 may not sound like a massive amount of money by itself. But that’s not the full picture. OEA already collects dues from educators across the state, and those dues add up quickly.

When a union that already takes money from workers’ paychecks begins looking for additional assessments while also setting a goal of becoming Oregon’s largest PAC, public employees have every right to ask what their money is really being used to support.

This is where the issue becomes bigger than one assessment or one budget document. OEA’s internal materials reportedly include political goals related to increasing the success of endorsed candidates, along with proposed resolutions involving tax policy, artificial intelligence and other broad political issues.

Individual teachers may agree with some of those positions, disagree with others or have no interest in them at all. The point isn’t whether every political position OEA takes is popular or unpopular. The point is that many educators are financially supporting a union operation that appears to be deeply invested in politics, whether or not those politics reflect the values of every worker paying dues.

Oregon teachers already have enough on their plates. They deal with large class sizes, behavioral challenges, burnout, administrative demands and constant political fights over education. Many simply want to teach, serve their students and keep more of their own hard-earned money. They should not be expected to bankroll a political machine just because they work in public education.

In 2018, U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Janus v. AFSCME affirmed the First Amendment right of every public employee to decline union membership and dues. That includes Oregon teachers and school employees represented by OEA.

The union may not go out of its way to make that right clear, but it’s still the law.

OEA is free to pursue its political goals. It can endorse candidates, support ballot measures, propose resolutions and work toward becoming the largest PAC in Oregon if that’s what its leadership wants to do. But Oregon educators are also free to decide whether they want to fund those efforts with money taken from their own paychecks.

For teachers who believe their dues should be focused on workplace representation instead of political power-building, these reports should be a wake-up call. If your union is more focused on becoming Oregon’s largest PAC than providing transparency and respecting the individual choices of its members, you have every right to ask whether your money is being used in a way that reflects your values.

The Freedom Foundation exists to make sure public employees know the truth: union membership is a choice. If you’re an Oregon teacher or school employee represented by OEA and you no longer want your paycheck used to support the union’s political agenda, you can opt out.

Visit OptOutToday.com/OEA to learn more.