Colorado Teachers’ Union Passes Anti-Capitalist Resolution, Sparking Outcry From Republicans

Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in Dallas at the Hilton Anatole on Aug. 6, 2022. Bobby Sanchez/The Epoch Times

Two Republican members of Colorado’s U.S. House delegation—Ken Buck and Doug Lamborn—have criticized the state’s teachers’ union for the passage of an anti-capitalist resolution at its recent assembly.

In an email to the education publication The Lion, the Colorado Education Association (CEA) belatedly admitted last week to the passage of a resolution on April 22 stating that, in the Association’s opinion, “capitalism inherently exploits children, public schools, land, labor, and resources.”

The resolution also takes the position that capitalism is opposed to fully addressing “systemic racism, climate change, patriarchy (gender and LGBTQ disparities), education inequality, and income inequality.”

Previously, the CEA had refused to admit the passage of the resolution by the assembly—until an apparent delegate posted the news on Twitter that the measure had passed.

“It’s disturbing that the CEA would endorse this patently false statement,” Rep. Ken Buck (R-Colo.) told The Epoch Times in a statement.

“Capitalism as an economic system is responsible for raising millions of people out of poverty, vastly increasing the standard of living, and providing people of all classes and backgrounds with the freedom and opportunity to pursue their own economic goals.”

The CEA is part of the NEA—which is the largest labor union in the United States and which represents over 3 million members, according to its website.

Neither the White House, the NEA, nor the CEA returned requests for comment before this article was published.

Activism

Since teachers often represent the largest block of employees in any school district, the NEA commands an army of activists and vast financial resources that are put into play for both local and federal races.

And the NEA’s union leadership is not afraid to brag about their political heft.

“Over the course of the most consequential elections in our lifetime, candidates had their say, and the voters had theirs,” said NEA President Becky Pringle about the union’s efforts to help Democrats in 2020. “Voters ushered in pro-public education and pro-working families agendas, with unprecedented NEA activism leading the way.”

When Pringle took over the union, she promised unapologetic, progressive activism, according to the New York Times.

But the passage of the Marxist-inspired resolution by the CEA is drawing pushback.

A file photo of Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.). Tal Atzmon/NTD

“I strongly disapprove of the Colorado Education Association’s recent passage of this anti-capitalist and far-left resolution,” said Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.). “This ideology has no place in Colorado schools.”

The measure comes against the backdrop of a grassroots, parent-driven movement in education that demands school choice. The movement was the result of growing criticisms of public school systems, which were further exacerbated by the measures enacted to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

In 2022, there were 85 bills in 26 states that addressed parental rights in education—and that number has grown further in 2023.

And the movement will likely intensify, said Lamborn.

“Rather than teach their students the inherent freedoms and liberties our nation provides, the CEA seeks to implement curriculum in which socialism has a home. This is why I joined House colleagues to pass the Parent’s Bill of Rights resolution,” said Lamborn.

In March, House Republicans passed the Parental Bill of Rights 213-208.

But with Democrats still narrowly controlling the U.S. Senate, the issue is likely to be a key campaign topic in the 2024 federal races.

‘A Sinking Ship’

The action by the CEA on the anti-capitalist resolution almost guarantees that the role of the teachers’ unions in public education will take center stage in 2024 campaigns, with negative consequences for both the unions and for Democrats, according to a political strategist.

“I think the teachers’ union as a whole is absolutely wearing out its welcome,” pollster Dick Morris told The Epoch Times. “I think it’s facing a mortal [wound].”

A former advisor to both Democrat and Republican presidents, Morris cited more than a dozen states that have passed some sort of school-choice legislation, including vouchers, in the last year—in part because voters are tired of union-dominated public school systems, he said.

“The teachers’ union is basically facing extinction. It will become a union, at best for them, of blue states and perhaps a union of no states,” he said. “They are playing with fire and they are going to get very badly burned [because of this latest resolution by the CEA].”

Morris said that the Biden administration has no choice but to distance itself from the position of the CEA and, by proxy, the NEA, but said he doubts the Biden camp has the political will to do that.

“I think they’re going down with a sinking ship,” Morris added.

Calls to Disassociate

One Colorado legislator is calling on parents, politicians, and local school boards to reject union money and influence.

“Parents need assurance that when they entrust their children to the neighborhood school, the teacher will advance the natural laws of liberty as espoused by Thomas Jefferson and not authoritarian control advocated by Karl Marx,” Republican State Sen. Mark Baisley told The Epoch Times.

“School boards across Colorado should dissociate from any professional education association that holds the view that capitalism ought to be dismantled and replaced with socialism. This includes legally breaking a collective bargaining agreement with a union that adopts such a policy,” said Baisley, who has been a vocal advocate of school choice in the state.

The threat to decertify the unions in Colorado is no idle dream of Baisley’s, either.

Under his leadership as chairman of the local GOP, Douglas County, Colorado, decertified its teachers’ union in 2012.

“I further call on school districts across Colorado to refuse to employ anyone as a teacher who maintains membership in a professional education association that holds the view that capitalism ought to be dismantled and replaced with socialism. The kind of teachers whom Colorado students deserve are the kind of people who reject such primitive social theories,” Baisley added.

‘Anti-American’

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich agreed.

“I think in the state legislature they have a great opportunity in Colorado to take this head on, and to basically say, ‘If that’s what they stand for, why is anybody in Colorado signing a contract [with the CEA to represent them]?” Gingrich told The Epoch Times.

He said that this is not an issue that can be approached in a neutral manner in an effort to understand union leadership.

That’s because, in his opinion, “anti-American Marxists dominate the teachers’ union.”

“They are, in fact, opposed to historic America. They are opposed to the system which has made us the wealthiest country in the world. They’re opposed to the Constitution, which has protected our liberties. And they are pretty much everywhere,” said Gingrich.

Gingrich said that Coloradans should be appalled and that nationwide, the CEA anti-capitalist resolution is the best possible argument for universal school choice.

He also recommended that the U.S. House Education and Workforce Committee focus some hearings on the unions.

It would present a tremendous opportunity to show how teachers’ unions oppose the traditional American system, he said.

“[They] could put together an amazing hearing of how anti-American and how opposed to the traditional American system the teachers’ unions have become,” Gingrich said.