A Teachers Union With Almost Everything on Its Mind Except Achievement

If you wanted to know what matters most to the American Federation of Teachers, its proposed 2026 convention resolution book offers a useful clue. The word “achievement” appears seven times. Donald Trump appears 76 times. Immigration appears 43 times. Israel appears 42 times. LGBTQ appears 37 times. Transgender appears six times.

That is quite a reading list for an organization that presents itself as a voice for educators and students.

The book runs 204 pages and contains 100 proposed resolutions. It ranges from war with Iran and Lebanon to Washington, D.C., statehood, immigration enforcement, military spending, healthcare markets, artificial intelligence, and impeaching the president. Somewhere beneath all of that political activism, the basic question of whether children can read, write, and do math occasionally makes a guest appearance.

This does not mean teachers should have no views on national or international issues. Everyone does. But a national teachers union has limited time, money, and political attention. Its priorities tell the public what it considers urgent. Seven mentions of achievement next to 76 mentions of Trump make that priority list painfully clear.

Parents are not asking their children’s teachers union to settle Middle East policy. They are asking why so many students are behind in reading and math, why discipline has deteriorated, and why families are trapped in schools that do not meet their children’s needs.

AFT has produced a thick book of answers to questions most parents never asked. The question parents do ask, whether their children are learning, barely makes the index.

Maybe the next convention could try something radical: put student achievement ahead of Donald Trump.