Opinion: Available data shows the overwhelming majority of WEA-PAC contributions flow to Democrats

🎧 WEA-PAC Data: 63% of Funds Flowing to Democrats

Leslie Lewallen calls out the WEA’s egregious abuse of power

Leslie Lewallen
for Clark County Today

While visiting family over the 4th of July, a family member who is a public school teacher showed me a letter he received from the WEA. My family and I are not only products of public education in Washington state, but numerous family members are public school teachers. I find the Washington Education Association’s abuse of power to promote a particular political agenda both egregious and deeply troubling.

Teachers across the state recently received a personalized letter from the WEA touting the passage of the so-called “Millionaires Tax” (SB 6346) as a historic win for families, small businesses, and kids. The letter credits WEA educators with helping pass the 9.9% tax on income over $1 million and promises billions for schools and other benefits. This is not neutral member communication — it is targeted political advocacy sent directly to teachers using union resources.

Teachers who try to remain autonomous and opt out of the WEA union or its PAC are often targeted or pressured. This recent letter is Exhibit A of why closer scrutiny, questioning, and auditing of those funds should be a number one priority. Parents have the right to know exactly where teacher union funds are being spent and on what political agenda they are being spent.

Democrats love to claim that tax increases like this one will help education. Yet that is not the truth. During the House and Senate floor debates on the income tax bill this past legislative cycle, Democrats repeatedly voted down Republican amendments and protections that would have guaranteed funding for K-12 education, locked in benefits like free meals, or ensured the tax truly applied only to high earners with binding safeguards. They passed a constitutionally questionable tax anyway and continue to sell it as a boon for students and schools. This is not honest policymaking — this is partisan advocacy.

The WEA’s deep entanglement with Democratic campaigns and candidates makes the connection unmistakable. Despite public claims of supporting “pro-public education, pro-labor candidates regardless of party,” available data shows the overwhelming majority of WEA-PAC contributions flow to Democrats. Since 2020, roughly 63% of member contributions — nearly $5 million — have gone to Democratic candidates, with just 0.51% to Republicans or independents.

Specific examples include substantial support for Governor Jay Inslee’s campaigns and aligned efforts; backing for Attorney General Bob Ferguson, who signed SB 6346 into law; endorsements and assistance for legislative leaders such as State Senator Manka Dhingra and numerous other Democratic state senators and representatives; and contributions channeled through or to Democratic-aligned groups like the Kennedy Fund (which advocates for Senate Democrats). The WEA has also helped elect WEA members to the legislature and dozens of school board positions, further amplifying its influence within the Democratic-dominated system.

Despite Washington’s high per-pupil spending (roughly $18,500–$19,600 per student), the failures are glaring. State assessments show only about 50% of students meeting grade-level standards in English language arts and around 40-44% in math across grades 3-8 — meaning far too many children cannot read proficiently at a 3rd-grade level or perform math at a 5th-grade level by the time they advance. On NAEP (the Nation’s Report Card), large majorities of 4th graders are not proficient in reading and 8th graders in math.

Even targeted efforts face challenges. For the last 16 years, the Required Action District program, known as RAD, has helped at least a dozen schools identified by OSPI as the “persistently lowest-achieving.” It will come to a close after the state Legislature last year removed the “failing schools” proviso from the operating budget.

In Washington, about three out of five recent high school graduates entering community and technical colleges require remedial (pre-college) courses because they are not adequately prepared. High absenteeism and slipping national rankings compound the crisis. States like Mississippi, with far lower per-pupil spending, have achieved higher test scores than Washington in key areas.

Parents, teachers who value autonomy, and taxpayers deserve full transparency and accountability. Auditing union political spending, protecting the right to opt out without retaliation, and breaking the monopoly grip that allows one organization to dominate public education policy should be urgent priorities. Our children’s education should not be a pawn in partisan power plays.

The WEA’s personalized letter to teachers is Exhibit A of the problem. It is long past time for this behavior to stop. The union’s outsized role as a de facto party apparatus needs to be dismantled through accountability, opt-outs, competition, and reform so that public education can refocus on results instead of politics.

Leslie Lewallen,

A Washington parent, product of public schools, and advocate for genuine education accountability

Leslie Lewallen calls out the WEA’s egregious abuse of power

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