I also spend a lot of time talking to wife's coworkers about it.
And teachers do NOT have a say at all in the union. You know not of what you speak in this regard. The unions are political figures making huge salaries from dues. They sit in state capitals and in washington lobbying liberal agendas. THe rank and file (public school) teacher is NOT liberal- that is anurban legend. If you were to measure the political affiliation of teachers and compare it to the affiliations of the gen pop, you would find a skew to the right for teacher. They, more than any other group, see and feel the results of liberal, pc, union-driven policies.
Of course it is Georgia I speak of. Who knows what Kalifornia is doing.