Who and what is the Freedom Foundation?
The Freedom Foundation and CEO Tom McCabe (pictured) are notorious for clogging our mailboxes with spam emails and unwanted junk mail. Even worse, the Foundation’s political operatives often brag about harassing public employees at our workplaces — and at our homes.
Putting the safety and privacy of school employees at further risk, the Foundation requests personal data like birthdates for public employees like us. In media reports, Foundation employees said they will use our private information to continue their harassment campaign against education employees.
WEA is fighting to protect our privacy and safety in the courts and the Legislature. Meanwhile, McCabe’s intentions are clear. He recently described WEA members as the “enemy” and vowed to “bankrupt” us and to “dramatically reduce” our ability to advocate for students. FF is trying undermine our public schools. They want to weaken WEA and our local unions so we have less of a united voice.
They claim they’re on the side of school employees and public education, but in reality, they seek to take professional respect and bargaining rights from educators and turn over control of public education to CEOs and the corporate special interests who fund them. Before he was defeated, FF staffer Jami Lund served on the Centralia School Board and opposed negotiated pay raises for teachers.
FF receives funding from other foundations that also fund anti-LGBTQ, anti-immigrant and anti-Muslim groups.
The Freedom Foundation and other anti-union groups exist to weaken us, divide us and limit our ability to speak out for students and public education. The good news is that while their tactics are annoying and intrusive, WEA members are more united than ever — especially as more and more educators learn about the Freedom Foundation’s real agenda.
Click here for a partial list of the Freedom Foundation's extremist funders.