The National Education Association is bankrolling training for activists staging anti-ICE protests at Michigan public schools, raising fresh questions about how taxpayer-funded educator salaries end up supporting political disruption in classrooms.
The NEA, the nation’s largest teachers union, has funneled roughly $1.4 million to Midwest Academy since 2020 — part of over $1.7 million since 2015 — according to union financial disclosures and investigative reporting.
Midwest Academy, a Chicago-based progressive organizer training group, has been providing strategy sessions for the NEA, including the May Day Strong coalition’s coordinated actions on May 1, 2026, that involves anti-ICE demonstrations by students.
NEA’s own May Day 2026 toolkit explicitly encourages teachers and students to participate in rallies, marches, and walk-ins—spending more money on political activism than teacher support. The toolkit, which links directly to the May Day Strong events, has been organized in close coordination with far-left activist groups and Democratic lawmakers since February.
The NEA needs to be sued by ALL parents whose child was forced to take part in leaving school to protest ICE. pic.twitter.com/oFi4hCRQYC
— Just Jen ℞ 🫡🇺🇸 (@JustJenRX) February 24, 2026
This is “yet another example of how activists and teachers unions view schools as a tool to advance their political agenda,” Rhyen Staley of Defending Education told the Washington Examiner. “Putting children’s education and safety at risk for political gain is unethical and immoral.”
As previously reported, these actions build on school walkouts tied directly to Project Rise Up, a joint NEA and Sunrise Movement effort to mobilize students every Friday ahead of the May Day event. In early February, the ANTIFA-aligned By Any Means Necessary caucus within the teachers union organized a Friday walkout at Cass Technical High School. In social media photos of the event, BAMN tagged the Detroit-area school’s administrators, praising the “collectivist” efforts.
Another recent example includes the “student-led walkout” of Western International High School on Friday Feb 27. Despite claims of the event being spontaneous, videos show Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib in attendance and leading ICE OUT chants while telling students “they’re coming after all of us.”
Now, as the tax deadline closes in, the NEA’s financial disclosures are beginning to expose how this organizing ecosystem is being funded. The NEA’s latest DOL LM-2 filing shows more than $390 million in dues revenue from public school teachers whose salaries come from state and local tax dollars.
In Michigan, dues are often deducted automatically through publicly funded payroll systems. While no direct government grants fund protests, these taxpayer-supported salaries flow into union coffers that finance “political activities” to the tune of $51.7 million—funding school-based activism.
The NEA, the largest teachers union in the US, is promoting an “ICE out” protest for students to wear blue to protest ICE and show solidarity with illegals in Minnesota
Another advertisement for homeschooling. pic.twitter.com/YxzbqoaKip
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) January 22, 2026
In a separate IRS 990 form, the NEA’s Political Action Committee – funded by $390.8 million from state chapter dues and investment income – show a whopping $2,620,000 spent on lobbying in 2025, $1,678,500 spent getting Democrats elected, and a staggering $123,333,151 directed to affiliates, advocacy groups, and ballot initiatives.
Michigan public schools, already facing documented academic struggles, continue to see instructional time diverted for these protests. With the MEA/NEA representing nearly 80 thousand educators across Michigan and May Day looming, the overlap between union toolkits, radical activism, and school actions highlight the need for guardrails in taxpayer-funded education.
