Deadline Nears for Educators Seeking Refund of Union-Backed Political Spending

By Savana Kascak | Complete Colorado

DENVER—An annual deadline is looming for Colorado teachers to request a refund of that portion of their union dues going to political purposes with which they might well disagree.

Members of Colorado’s statewide teachers’ union are entitled to a $49 partial refund of their dues. The money otherwise goes toward supporting union-backed candidates and political causes.

Many teachers are unaware of their right to the yearly refund, or the mid-December deadline to apply.

Every Colorado teacher who joins their local union automatically joins the National Education Association (NEA) as well as the Colorado Education Association (CEA).

According to the CEA website, the statewide union is then organized into approximately 200 local affiliated groups that are governed by member-elected officials.

CEA’s Every Member Option (EMO) program automatically takes $49 from each individual teacher’s dues to support its small donor committee. These are political committees that accept individual donations of no more than $50 and are used to funnel money to union-preferred candidates and various political activities.

Every teacher is entitled to a refund of the EMO portion if they would rather not financially support the small donor committee. The catch, however, is that teachers must proactively request the refund by Dec. 15, 2025.

The CEA says they use EMO money to support candidates for elective offices such as school boards, governor, and the state legislature. In the 2025 election the CEA reports that EMO contributions were used to “defeat reform candidates in Denver” and “reject far-right efforts to take control of schools in Cortez and Grand Junction.”

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