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Arizona Educators United (AEU)

Website:

arizonaeducatorsunited.com
Parent Organization:

Alliance for Global Justice (AFGJ)

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Arizona Educators United (AEU) is a left-of-center, teachers union-aligned advocacy group that emerged in 2018 to lobby for increased public-school funding and urge teacher walkouts and strikes. The coalition is fiscally sponsored by the Alliance for Global Justice (AfGJ), a far-left nonprofit known for supporting far-left and radical initiatives, which has drawn significant scrutiny for its anti-Israel stances in the wake of the Israel-Hamas conflict. Arizona Educators United primarily conducts activity through rallies, walkouts, and social media mobilization and has embraced far-left positions and rhetoric around race, unionization, and opposition to charter schools. The group has been linked to the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA).1 2 3

Background and Activity

Arizona Educators United originated on social media, with an early Facebook group growing to include several thousand teachers and activists. In April 2018, it orchestrated, along with the Arizona Education Association teachers union, a week-long “Red for Ed” statewide strike, drawing approximately 20,000 participants demanding 20 percent raises, restored pre-2008 school funding, and reduced class sizes. The strike lasted for six days and halted school for 800,000 students in Arizona. The strike was part of a larger movement that saw similar disruptions to school in states including West Virginia, Oklahoma, and Kentucky. 4

During the COVID-19 pandemic, AEU opposed in-person school reopening and led coordinated “sickouts,” remote protests, and public pressure campaigns aimed at delaying classroom instruction. The group cited safety concerns, calling for mask mandates, reduced classroom sizes, and increased federal aid for mitigation. The group operated campaigns urging for delayed schools to be reopened, “Only When It’s Safe.” AEU was aligned with the Arizona Education Association in opposing then-Governor Doug Ducey’s (R) ban on mask mandates. 5 6

AEU also took part in the January 2021 “National Day of Resistance,” a multi-city protest that involved several groups linked to the Democratic Socialists of America in calling for increased school funding, union protections, and pandemic-related safety measures. The event was coordinated in partnership with multiple activist groups and labor unions nationwide. 7

AEU has embraced far-left rhetoric and policy positions, calling for “Anti-racist, anti-imperialist, pro-Black, pro-Indigenous, pro-immigrant, pro-LGBTQ+, and pro-disability public education policies, staff development, community events, and recruitment/retention of underrepresented voices.” 1

The group has also opposed charter school expansion and criticized “corporate/market-based approaches to education reform pushed by legislators affiliated with ALEC [the American Legislative Exchange Council] or other think tanks that push for ‘free-market solutions.’” 1

Alliance for Global Justice

Arizona Educators United operates under the umbrella of the Alliance for Global Justice (AfGJ), a controversial fiscal sponsor that supports numerous radical-left causes and activist groups. AfGJ has sponsored groups with alleged ties to foreign militant organizations and far-left movements across Latin America and the Middle East. In January 2023, the Washington Examiner reported that the Ford Foundation had ceased all grantmaking to AfGJ after “years of warnings” about the organization’s ties to a Palestinian group with terrorist designations under U.S. law. 8

Arizona Educators United is not an independent nonprofit and operates under AfGJ’s legal and tax status, and it does not file independent tax returns with the Internal Revenue Service, publish audited financial statements, or disclose its internal governance. The group’s revenue sources, expenditures, and budget scale are unclear. 8 9

References

  1. “About.” Arizona Educators United. Accessed June 26, 2025. https://sites.google.com/view/arizonaeducatorsunited/about
  2. “Fiscally Sponsored Projects.” Alliance for Global Justice, September 6, 2023. Accessed June 1, 2025. https://web.archive.org/web/20230906184056/https://afgj.org/fsp/fiscally-sponsored-projects.
  3. Kaminsky, Gabe. “Liberal Ford Foundation to Stop Funding Palestinian Terror-Tied Group after Years of Warnings.” Washington Examiner. June 18, 2024. Accessed June 24, 2025. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2579782/liberal-ford-foundation-to-stop-funding-palestinian-terror-tied-group-years-of-warnings/   
  4. Doughty, M. (2024). Rising Arizona: Participation and Results of the 2018 Red for Ed Strike. AERA Open, 10. https://doi.org/10.1177/23328584241303493
  5. “Campaigns.” Arizona Educators United. Accessed June 26, 2025. https://sites.google.com/view/arizonaeducatorsunited/campaigns
  6. “AEA and Education Groups File Lawsuit Against Governor’s Mask Ban.” Arizona Education Association. Accessed June 26, 2025. https://www.arizonaea.org/about-aea/media-center/press-releases/aea-and-education-groups-file-lawsuit-against-governors-mask-ban
  7. “Arizona Health Care Workers Resign over Lack of PPE and COVID-19 Infections.” World Socialist Web Site. January 15, 2021. Accessed June 26, 2025. https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2021/01/15/resi-j14.html
  8. Kaminsky, Gabe. “Liberal Ford Foundation to Stop Funding Palestinian Terror-Tied Group after Years of Warnings.” Washington Examiner. June 18, 2024. Accessed June 24, 2025. https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/2579782/liberal-ford-foundation-to-stop-funding-palestinian-terror-tied-group-years-of-warnings/
  9. “Make a Donation!” Alliance for Global Justice. Accessed June 24, 2025. https://afgj.salsalabs.org/AdAstra/index.html
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