Politics

After years of working to dismantle diversity programs, ban books and rewrite classroom curriculum, conservatives are converging on a new battlefront in their push to overhaul public education: teachers’ unions.

This spring, a right-leaning think tank called the Freedom Foundation launched the Teacher Freedom Alliance as a free, national membership program meant to incentivize public educators to jump ship from traditional teachers unions.

The group, which is headquartered in Grapevine, Texas, encourages teachers to instead take advantage of its $2 million liability insurance, professional development training and curriculum resources, including recommended learning from PragerU, a conservative group that produces free video content “upholding Judeo-Christian values.” The group is structured as a nonprofit, so it doesn't have to disclose its donors.

The group says it already has 13,000 members in Texas. Last month, Withe brought on former Oklahoma Superintendent of Public Instruction Ryan Walters to helm the effort. Walters drew bipartisan criticism during his Oklahoma tenure for his advocacy for teaching the Bible in public school classrooms.