While Teachers Scrimp, AFT & NEA Union Bosses Splurge on Luxury Resorts
Union Bosses of the nation’s largest teachers’ unions live high on the hog, spending significant sums of teachers’ dues on luxury resorts, golf getaways, and casino hotels in 2025, even as they claimed classroom educators were under severe financial strain from federal policy.[1]
Luxury resorts on teachers’ dime
According to a new Washington Examiner investigation, officials at the American Federation of Teachers (AFT) and National Education Association (NEA) charged hundreds of thousands of dollars in travel to high‑end destinations, including Las Vegas, Miami, Palm Springs, Honolulu, and multiple golf resorts nationwide. Many of these trips were booked under vague descriptions such as “professional development” or “staff education,” and in some cases, like AFT’s spending at Las Vegas’s Mandalay Bay, were reported only as “non‑itemized transactions.”[1]
Read the Washington Examiner’s full report here:
“Teachers union leaders spent thousands at swanky resorts” – Washington Examiner
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/investigations/4446354/teachers-union-leaders-spent-thousands-at-swanky-resorts/
Waikiki, waterfront Miami, and casino hotels
The NEA’s 2025 financial report shows more than $6,500 in member dues spent at the Waikiki Beach Marriott Resort in Hawaii, a beachfront property featuring nine on‑site restaurants, regular luaus with live entertainment, a full‑service spa, and access to multiple golf courses. Teachers’ dues also financed “policy development” events at the Hyatt Regency Chesapeake Bay Golf Resort in Maryland, a resort boasting an 18‑hole golf course, marina, spa, and other upscale amenities.[1]
Union officials also favored resorts with on‑site casinos. Between Las Vegas’s Planet Hollywood, Mandalay Bay, and Flamingo Hotel, the Hollywood Casino in Detroit, and the Gila River Resort & Casino in Arizona, NEA and AFT together spent nearly $150,000 at gambling properties, while additional luxury stays at Miami’s waterfront Hyatt Regency and Chicago’s historic Palmer House added close to $38,000 more in hotel spending.[1]
Public complaints about teacher hardship
These spending patterns stand in stark contrast to the unions’ public messaging about teacher finances. AFT President Randi Weingarten denounced efforts to rein in the federal Public Service Loan Forgiveness program as an “assault on borrowers’ livelihoods,” warning that teachers and other workers could face “an insurmountable debt load.” NEA President Becky Pringle likewise attacked federal budget decisions as having “com[ing] for our kids, our professions, and our communities,” while the two unions jointly funded a $2 million ad campaign in May 2025 highlighting alleged “devastating effects” of federal cuts on working families.
What this means for teachers and parents
For classroom educators and parents, this latest disclosure underscores a familiar problem: union officials frequently use compulsory or quasi‑compulsory dues to bankroll high‑end travel and politics rather than classroom priorities. While union leaders enjoy “AAA Four Diamond” golf resorts and casino hotels, the students they claim to champion continue to face stagnant or declining achievement, and many rank‑and‑file teachers still struggle with crowded classrooms, limited resources, and decades of declining test scores.
Concerned educators should carefully review how their union spends every dues dollar, including line items labeled “conferences,” “training,” “professional development,” and “travel expenses” related to luxury destinations. For teachers who object to this kind of spending or the politics it supports, recent Supreme Court decisions and state right‑to‑work protections can provide avenues to exercise their rights and seek alternatives that prioritize students and classroom needs over resort junkets.
For documentation of the specific hotels, amounts, and union officials involved, see the Washington Examiner’s full investigation:
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/investigations/4446354/teachers-union-leaders-spent-thousands-at-swanky-resorts/[1]
Sources used in creating this CEAFU.org post:
- https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/investigations/4446354/teachers-union-leaders-spent-thousands-at-swanky-resorts/
- https://www.newsmax.com/us/nea-aft-unions/2026/02/05/id/1245055/
- https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/education/2802621/union-watchdog-teachers-unions-politics-members/
- https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2873501/largest-teachers-union-spent-twice-as-much-on-politics-as-on-member-needs/
- https://www.foxnews.com/politics/mayorkas-puts-controversial-union-chief-randi-weingarten-dhs-academic-council
- https://www.facebook.com/WashingtonExaminer/posts/labor-bosses-at-the-two-largest-teachers-unions-in-the-country-spent-hundreds-of/1289847676345121/
- https://dianeravitch.net/2023/05/02/jan-resseger-the-unfair-attack-on-randi-weingarten-and-unions-in-the-new-york-times/
- https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/investigations/3901608/chicago-teachers-union-funneled-millions-to-liberals/
- https://www.freedomfoundation.com/teachers-unions/teachers-unions-are-accidentally-exposing-their-true-intentions/
- https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/opinion/3211547/unions-political-spending-ignores-almost-40-their-members/
- https://x.com/Zimmlaw175/status/2019517933244801343
- https://www.the74million.org/article/documents-show-teachers-unions-spent-millions-on-luxury-hotels-overseas-travel-car-services/
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9yWtz-bwqNM
- https://edworkforce.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=412683
- https://www.facebook.com/groups/informtoday/posts/25481420284883379/
