AFT Committee on Political Education (AFT-COPE)
Public-sector teachers union
Explore cycle funding, spending and cashFEC financial summaries
Follow the money.
FEC committee: AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS, AFL-CIO COMMITTEE ON POLITICAL EDUCATION. Figures cover this registered committee, not its parent organization or wider network.
Reported activity: Jan 1, 2025 to Aug 31, 2026. Captured Oct 14, 2026.
Money raised
$11,555,285.37
Total receipts this cycle
Money spent
$10,869,399.72
Total disbursements this cycle
Cash on hand
$2,826,965.59
At the latest reporting cutoff
Debt owed
$0.00
At the latest reporting cutoff
Where it comes from
- Individual contributions
- $9,550,285.37
- Itemized
- $146,757.14
- Unitemized
- $9,403,528.23
- Other committee contributions
- $0.00
- Party committee contributions
- $0.00
- Transfers from affiliated committees
- $2,000,000.00
- Transfers from nonfederal accounts
- $0.00
- Loans received
- $0.00
- Loan repayments received
- $0.00
- Operating offsets
- $0.00
- Other federal receipts
- $0.00
Where it goes
- Contributions to candidates and committees
- $6,411,000.00
- Independent expenditures
- $0.00
- Transfers to affiliated committees
- $57,377.72
- Operating expenditures
- $0.00
- Contribution refunds
- $0.00
- Loan repayments
- $0.00
- Loans made
- $0.00
- Other disbursements
- $4,401,022.00
Selected FEC reporting categories, not additional totals. Indented rows are included in their parent category. Independent expenditures are spending for or against candidates, not money handed to them. Transfers can appear on both committees’ books, so committee totals are not summed into a network total here.
Compare reporting cycles
Compare the reported amounts and cutoff dates side by side. An unfinished cycle is not a like-for-like growth comparison with a completed cycle.
| Reported metric | 2024 | 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Reporting cutoff | Dec 31, 2024 | Aug 31, 2026 |
| Money raised | $13,762,019.03 | $11,555,285.37 |
| Money spent | $15,604,806.67 | $10,869,399.72 |
| Cash on hand | $2,141,079.94 | $2,826,965.59 |
| Debt owed | $0.00 | $0.00 |
Source details and reporting method
- Committee name in the FEC response
- AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS, AFL-CIO COMMITTEE ON POLITICAL EDUCATION
- Debts owed to the committee
- $0.00
- Captured response SHA-256
- 9d1e3e964ef8262a2f458a56d0be37a3215051b0b3bbfe4c9d338535379933a0
These are FEC summary figures, not a sum of itemized transactions. Cash and debt are balances at the reporting cutoff, not today’s balances. Missing fields remain unreported. Figures may change when amended filings are processed.
Inspect preserved FEC response ↗The operation.
AFT-COPE is the federal PAC of the American Federation of Teachers, the second-largest US teachers union with roughly 1.7 million members. It contributes almost exclusively to Democratic candidates and Democratic party committees, focusing on House and Senate races where public education funding, charter school policy, and union rights are at issue. AFT is led by President Randi Weingarten.
Major donors.
Notable races.
Sources.
Questions about AFT Committee on Political Education (AFT-COPE).
What is AFT-COPE?
AFT-COPE is the federal political action committee of the American Federation of Teachers, the public-sector union representing roughly 1.7 million US teachers, school staff, nurses, and public employees. It is funded by voluntary contributions from members and contributes to candidates supportive of public education and union rights.
Who does AFT-COPE support?
AFT-COPE contributes almost exclusively to Democratic federal candidates and to the DCCC, DSCC, and DNC. Its largest single-cycle spending was in 2024, where it supported the Biden / Harris ticket and Senate Democratic incumbents in Ohio, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
How is AFT-COPE different from NEA-PAC?
AFT and NEA are the two largest US teachers unions; their PACs operate in parallel and frequently endorse the same candidates. NEA is larger (≈3 million members) and historically outspends AFT, but AFT-COPE is more concentrated in major-city public-school districts.