Paul Zimmerman of the Defense of Freedom Institute speaks about the growing ideological capture of teachers unions and their outsized influence on education policy. The conversation explores how these unions have moved beyond collective bargaining to advance radical political agendas, including the spread of antisemitic narratives through ethnic studies and related curricula. Bernstein and Zimmerman trace the historical evolution of teachers unions, examine the political forces that sustain their power, and discuss practical strategies for increasing transparency, accountability, and public oversight. The episode ultimately situates the fight against antisemitism in schools within a broader defense of pluralism, civic values, and the core principles of American democracy. About the Guest Paul serves as Senior Counsel, Policy & Regulatory, where he leads DFI’s Teacher Union Accountability Project and supports the organization’s federal agency transparency and oversight efforts. From 2019 to 2021, he was Counsel at the U.S. Department of Commerce, coordinating agency responses to oversight inquiries, advising on legal privileges in litigation and Freedom of Information Act matters, and preparing senior officials for congressional testimony. Prior to that, Paul spent more than a decade at the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies, serving first as Director of Publications—editing the organization’s law review, newsletters, and white papers—and later as Deputy Director of International Affairs, where he advised civil society organizations across Europe, Canada, and Asia on rule of law, separation of powers, and individual liberty, coordinated transatlantic judicial exchanges, and managed a platform tracking the impact of international organizations on domestic law and policy. Paul holds a B.A. in Political Science from Duke University and a J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center, and he is a member of the Maryland and District of Columbia Bars as well as the Federalist Society’s Civil Rights Practice Group Executive Committee.
Chapters
00:00 Defense of Freedom Institute: Mission & Focus
02:48 Ideological Capture of Teachers Unions
06:16 How Teachers Unions Shifted Ideologically
09:03 Strategic Control of Education Systems
11:59 Ideology Inside School Districts
15:08 Unions and the Push for Radical Agendas
18:34 Democratic Socialists’ Influence in Unions
22:50 NEA vs. AFT: Comparing Union Radicalism
26:21 How Union Ideology Continues to Evolve
27:33 Why Countering Union Power Is So Difficult
30:36 Paths to Transparency and Accountability
32:41 Research, Data, and Oversight in Education
34:39 Teacher Colleges and Ideological Training
37:09 Political Money and Education Policy
39:01 Cultural Transformation in Schools
45:32 Confronting Antisemitism in Education