The largest teachers unions in the United States are spending millions on luxury hotels, limo services, and overseas trips, according to a new report.
The investigation, conducted by The Seventy Four, examined financial documents filed with the U.S. Labor Department by the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education Association, and the United Federation of Teachers and discovered the groups have "a penchant for five-star business expenses that are far removed from the $56,000-a-year average teacher's salary in the U.S."
The American Federation of Teachers (AFT), for example, were found to have spent $1.3 million on luxury hotels while putting $300,000 towards foreign travel between 2011 and 2014. From July 2013 until June 2014, the group spent $65,795 on Air France, British Airways, Aer Lingus, Air New Zealand and EVA Airways, the Taiwanese international airline. According to the report, the union previously spent thousands more on Air Canada, Korean Airlines, Thai Airways, and South African Airway all while staying at upscale properties such as the Cerulean Tower Tokyu Hotel In Tokyo, Japan and Hotel Kamp Helsinki in Finland.
An additional $59,368 was put into car services–including limos--during the three-year time period.
The AFT was not the only teachers union to spend millions on questionable expenses.
The National Education Association (NEA), the largest teachers union in the country, spent $2.2 million between 2011 and 2014 that included trips to resorts in Las Vegas, San Diego, and Miami.
In addition to the trips to luxury resorts, the NEA would occasionally put thousands into events such as dinner cruises. Between 2013 and 2014, the NEA spent almost $15,000 on entertainment with the Cruise Odyssey in Chicago. Years prior, in 2009, the group spent $11,300 on Mystic Blue Cruises – also in Chicago – while $7,800 was spent on Washington Wizards tickets in the nation’s capital.
The United Federation of Teachers (UFT), which mainly represents teachers in New York City area, spent more than $450,000 on car services between 2008 and 2014 to attend events. A UFT spokesman claimed the costs are accumulated when staff were not close to public transportation and were mainly used to reach events at schools.
The group also spent $221,544 on movie tickets and to attend New York Mets, New York Yankees, and Brooklyn Nets games between August 2013 and July 2014. In addition, a $102,000 retirement luncheon was thrown at the New York Hilton while $300,000 was spent at the Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
"To put these costs in perspective, for every member it represents, the UFT in 2014 spent at least 67 cents on car services, 55 cents on the Hilton retirement lunch and $1.19 on entertainment tickets," the Seventy Four writes.